1918 Flu Pandemic

The Spanish flu (so-named because the Spanish press openly reported on the outbreak while other World War I belligerents suppressed the news) broke out in March 1918 at Camp Funston, an army camp in Kansas, and struck young, healthy adults with greater ferocity than any other demographic group. Occurring in three waves (March-September 1918, September-December 1918, Spring-Summer 1919) and affecting nearly 500 million people worldwide, the death toll reached 50-100 million people. The conditions of the First World War, poor hygiene, overcrowded hospitals, poor eating habits, and the general lack of knowledge and treatment for viral infections all contributed to its lethality.