The Spanish Flu, also know as the 1918 flu, was an avian flu pandemic that was first diagnosed in the United States. The flu eventually spread across the entire world and reached every continent. The Spanish Flu claimed at least 50 million lives, killing more people than any other illness in history.CDC: 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics
Spanish Flu and Bird Flu
Scientists believe that the Spanish Flu was a mutated strain of avian flu known as H1N1 that jumped the species barrier and began to infect humans. This is believed to be part of the explanation of why the Spanish Flu was so virulent. Scientists believe that the Spanish Flu is similar to the strain that caused the China bird flu outbreak in 2005, known as H1N5. Scientists continue to study the Spanish Flu in order to gain clues to prevent or temper a future flu epidemic.Web MD: Scientists: 1918 Killer Flu Was a Bird Flu (October 5, 2005)
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Fast Facts
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Also known as 1918 Flu, La Grippe
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Considered a pandemic flu
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There were three waves of the 1918 flu, first in March 1918, then in the summer-fall and winter
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Infected about one-third of the world's populationhttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-0979.htm 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics]
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October 1918
918 people in New York died of the flu in a single dayPBS: Influenza 1918
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Nationwide, in October 1918, nearly 200,000 Americans died of the fluPBS: Influenza 1918
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Most victims were between the ages of 20 and 40 years of agehttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-0979.htm 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics]
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Did not originated in Spain
