World
Flu Epidemic's 90th Anniversary
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Mar 11, 2008 - 9:31:18 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Profile America -- Tuesday, March 11th. One of the most devastating public health crises of modern times hit the U.S. on this day 90 years ago and experts are still studying it, hoping to head off a similar global pandemic. The first cases were reported among soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas, just back from fighting in Europe. Called the "Spanish influenza," the virus moved quickly, and in October, the worst month, 195,000 Americans perished. By 1920, nearly one-in-four Americans had suffered from this strain of the flu, killing a half million of them. Worldwide, some 22 million people died. Even less dramatic forms of the disease are deadly. Each year, nearly 60,000 Americans die of the flu and pneumonia. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov/.

http://www.census.gov/

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