In the final years of World War I, a deadly influenza pandemic killed about 3% of the world's population. The pandemic effected both the Allied and Central Powers, as well as neutral nations. Due to wartime censorship, belligerent nations made no public acknowledgement of the crisis. For neutral nations like Spain however, the pandemic was widely reported because there was no censorship in place. Accordingly, the pandemic became associated with Spain.
In this interview, Dr. Marble Sanders, Senior Historian of the U.S. Army Medical Department Office of Medical History, discusses the origins and spread of Spanish Flu and why it was more than just a tragic coda to World War I.
