"I had a little bird, Its name was Enza. I opened up the window, And in flew Enza."
No one really knows where it came from,
but before it was done, it had taken the lives
of up to 100 million people. We're speaking not of some movie monster,
but of the Spanish Flu pandemic
of 1918.
Ninety-one years ago, a soldier at Fort Riley, Kansas, complained of flu symptoms. Within hours, 100
more soldiers were ill. By the end of the week, the number had jumped to 500.
Thanks to new means of easy travel
in the early 20th century, the virus spread quickly to Europe. Wartime censorship kept the worst news of the disease from the public until
it hit Spain -- but when it did, the gusher of news burst, giving the
flu its misleading name.
The 1918 flu was unlike any other, in that it spread directly from birds to humans, and struck hardest in the
population that would seem to have had the greatest immunity: young, healthy adults. At its peak, the virus killed hundreds a day. Physicians were helpless to stop it: antiviral drugs were decades away, and the only real "cure" was
to quarantine the victims -- not an easy task when 500 million
people worldwide were infected -- and hope for the best.
Could it happen again? No one knows. Recent outbreaks of bird
and swine flu
have raised fears that another pandemic could be just around the corner, but
so far, the world has escaped a return engagement. But just in case you felt
safe, scientists have been able to recreate
the flu virus -- and it's as potent as ever. If you feel a little achy
tonight, it's probably nothing -- but you never know....
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