sep 8, 1918 - Spanish Influenza Epidemic

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The Spanish Influenza Epidemic spread a deadly virus all over the world. It is possibly the most devastating virus in human history, killing almost 30 million people around the world and around 50,000 Canadians, this virus was deadly for sure. With no vaccine, or effective treatment this deadly virus spread to every inhabited region across the world including Canada. It came in waves, " The first wave took place in the spring of 1918, then in the fall of 1918, a mutation of the influenza virus produced an extremely contagious, virulent, and deadly form of the disease. This second wave caused 90% of the deaths that occurred during the pandemic. Subsequent waves took place in the spring of 1919 and the spring of 1920." - (Parks Canada). As the rates of infection grew, the number of healthy workers declined. This caused a major decline in Canada's economy as almost no worker was healthy enough to go work without spreading the virus. As no quarantine measures were in place by the government the virus kept spreading for about 2 years. However, in 1919, the government had helped create the department of health. From then, all levels of government had responsibilities for public health.

This pandemic can be compared to the pandemic ongoing today. As the spanish flu killed 30 million people across the world whereas Coronavirus has killed 2.5 million people across the world. From this information we can infer that if this virus is not stopped soon, there is a slight chance it becomes as deadly as the spanish flu.

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