Contrary to its title, the Spanish flu didn’t originate anywhere near Spain! So where did it get its name from?

Spanish Flu
Spanish Flu – Adobe Stock Images

In 1918, just as the man-made catastrophe World War 1 was starting to wind down, the world was devastated by the natural catastrophe called the Spanish Flu. This is the most deadly influenza strain in modern history causing an estimated 20 – 50 million deaths world wide. This surpassed the actual WW1 deaths which was around 17 million deaths!

So if not Spain, then where?

This was mostly because of miscommunication and misunderstanding. According to History.com, it was dubbed the Spanish Flu or the “Spanish Lady” by the United States and most of Europe in the fall of 1918. During the war, media and news was highly censored. When the flu came about, it was even more censored from troops to not destroy their morale in the war.

This is where Spain came in. Spain was the only major European country that was completely neutral in World War 1. Because of this, their news outlets weren’t censored so they posted lots of news stories, often in gory detail, about the Flu and what’s actually going on. This was encouraged further as the Spanish King Alfonso XIII came down with the Flu himself. Because Spain was the main source where everyone got the news about the flu, the rest of the world assumed this is where it all started.

Spanish Flu Hospital
Spanish Flu Hospital – Adobe Stock Images

So Where did the Flu Come From?

Even though the Spanish thought the Flu came from France and aptly named it the “French Flu”, It did not originate there either. All though there is no one who is 100% sure where patient zero came from, the first recorded case was in a military base in Kansas, USA on March 11, 1918. All though there may have been other unreported cases where it may have started, scholars can confidently say the flu originated in USA, not in Spain.

Spanish Flu Graveyard
Spanish Flu Graveyard – Adobe Stock Images

No one really knows why this particular flu strain was so deadly. Doctors and scientists have examined remains of victims and found no obvious reason. However, the reason it spread so fast was because of the war. The mass movements of troops and people worldwide was a huge spreader, as well as the media suppression to warn people against it. If war wasn’t a factor and if people could were warned to start taking preventative measures against it, the death toll would have been far less.

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