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Spanish Flu

Name Origins

Nov, 1918
Spain

The origin of the "Spanish flu" name stems from the pandemic's spread to Spain from France in November 1918. Spain was not involved in the war, having remained neutral, and had not imposed wartime censorship. Newspapers were, therefore, free to report the epidemic's effects, such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII, and these widely spread stories created a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit.


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