The 1900’s Flu Pandemics

Now that we are in the early phases of the Mexican Flu outbreak we wanted to give you a review of some of the earlier known spread of flu pandemics of the 1900’s.

Since the turn of the last century there have been several flu pandemics. The first such outbreak being the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic where up to 40% of the world’s population became infected. This was a very deadly strain of the virus that infected and killed without mercy. It is estimated that over 50 million people died of this deadly strain that was so quick to act that within a day some people would catch the virus and die. The highest mortality rate for this strain was the one that most strains do not affect much; which is young adults. One of the reasons could have been the close quarters on the war fronts were more men died of the flu than of enemy bullets. This has been the worst outbreak in recorded history.

In 1957, the Asian flu virus made its way through the Asian continent. This mainly infected the older population and was identified quickly. The world’s governments tried to contain the disease and it was thought to be over when in 1958 a second wave hit. Doctors sent out information on how to prevent the spread of the disease like washing your hands, this contributed to fewer infections. Between 60 and 70 thousand people died in America from this outbreak but it could have been worse.

In 1968 another flu outbreak hit Asia. The source was traced to Hong Kong. This pandemic lasted a few years but because of the awareness of the population on how to protect themselves the death toll was again reduced. This was considered a mild pandemic with less than 35 thousand deaths in America.

The swine flu hit again in 1976. This virus was identified in Fort Dix New Jersey. The government took all the steps it could to prevent the spread of the disease and it was mainly contained. There were only 25 deaths recorded.

In 1997 the world was on alert again with the Avian Flu. There were 6 reported deaths in Hong Kong. To prevent the possibility of the virus from spreading over 1.5 million chickens were slaughtered.

Today we have the Mexican Flu. As of the time this article was written there is still under 200 deaths. This makes it already the worst outbreak in 40 years. Hopefully the governments have learned from the past and the disease will be contained.

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Tagged as: 1900’s Flu Pandemics, 1918 spanish flu, 1957 asian flu, 1968 asian flu, 1976 swine flu, 1997 avian flu, mexican flu