NEW YORK — A U.S. avian flu pandemic on the scale of one that took place in 1918 could take the lives of an estimated 1.9 million people and cost the life insurance industry $133 billion in extra death claims, according to a study released on Tuesday. A moderate influenza outbreak, based on similar events in 1957 and 1968, could cause 209,000 deaths, according to a report released by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), which cites data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That compares with a typical year when 36,000 Americans die from the flu. The moderate outbreak scenario could cost the life insurance industry $31 billion in extra death claims, the I.I.I. said. Companies affected by an outbreak would include the largest U.S. life insurers as measured by revenues such as MetLife Inc., Prudential Financial Inc. and New York Life Insurance. Some insurers have been preparing investors for potential bird flu outcomes. For example, the world’s largest insurance company by market value and a major U.S. life insurer, American International Group Inc. said in its last quarterly earnings report that “an outbreak of a pandemic disease, such as the Avian Influenza […]