An emergency hospital during 1918 influenza epidemic, in Camp Funston, Kansas. Credit: National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
From Live Science:
To understand the sometimes bold, sometimes nervous governmental reactions to the rapidly growing swine flu crisis, one need only look at the incredibly unpredictable history of horrifically deadly flu pandemics and the frightening outbreaks that did not become pandemics.
Pandemics, plagues and pestilence have beset humans throughout history. But the strategy and response to swine flu unfolding in recent days is rooted in what has been learned from modern flu outbreaks and pandemics going back to the colossal 1918 event.
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