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Sunday, April 12, 2026

Collection of facts about the Spanish flu

This post is a collection of facts about the Spanish flu (1918-1920). There are 16 facts listed below. Source: Wikipedia

• H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus
• Indeterminate origin (newspapers misattributed epicenter to Spain)
• Began during the end of World War I
• Possibly began at an army camp in Étaples, France in 1916
• First recorded case in Haskell County, Kansas (January 1918)
• Conventionally began March 4th, 1918 at Camp Funston in Kansas
• Reached European ports in April 1918
• Reported in China in June 1918
• Second wave began in August 1918
• United States had 292,000 deaths between Sept - Dec 1918
• India had estimated 12 million deaths in 1918
• Third wave began in early 1919
• Fourth wave occurred late 1919 - early 1920
• Considered over by mid-1920
• Cases: 500 million (1/3 of the world population)
• Deaths: 17 - 100 million