1918 Spanish Flu The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus. It is unknown where the disease's epicenter originated, but it spread very quickly worldwide from 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel returning from the war in the spring of 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world’s population, became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide, with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. 1956 Asian Flu (H2N2) In February 1957, a new influenza A (H2N2) virus emerged in East Asia, triggering a pandemic. It was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in the summer of 1957. The estimated deaths were 1.1 million worldwide and 116,000 in the United States. 1968 Hong Kong Flu (H3N2) The 1968 pandemic was ca...
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Martin Luther King Jr.