On Feb. 5, 1976, in an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four other soldiers were hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that the cause of death was a new strain of swine flu. The strain, a variant of H1N1, is known as A/New Jersey/1976 (H1N1). It was detected only from Jan. 19 to February 9 and did not spread beyond Fort Dix.

There were reports of Guillain-Barr� syndrome (GBS) that affected some who had received swine flu immunizations. In 1976, there was a small risk of GBS following influenza vaccination (approximately 1 case per 100,000 people). Scientists have multiple theories on why this increased risk may have occurred, but the exact reason for this association remains unknown. On December 16, 1976, the vaccination program was halted.