The "Spanish" flu was actually the Kansas Flu
we ignored it either way
As the news cycle about the hantavirus cruise ship illnesses rises and falls, it’s safe to say many of us are a bit triggered by it. I remember all the coverage early in the COVID pandemic of people being trapped on cruise ships, getting sicker and sicker, with no ports of entry willing to take them. I also think it’s safe to say we have not collectively processed the COVID years emotionally.
The hantavirus is not the same as COVID; it’s not novel, and it’s harder to spread. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious — a characteristic the Republican party that controls the levers of government right now actively avoids. And that is yet another thing Trump has in common with one of my least favorite Presidents: Woodrow Wilson, who ignored the Spanish flu as it began to rapidly spread…from Kansas.
Where it actually started
The flu of 1918 became known as the Spanish flu because wartime censors in the belligerent countries suppressed bad news to maintain morale, while newspapers in neutral Spain reported the outbreak freely, creating a misleading impression of Spain as the epicenter. A more accurate name would be…the Kansas Flu.
