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Spanish Flu
About Spanish Flu
Infected 500 million people, one-third of the world population. Estimates of deaths range from about 17 to 50 million, possibly up to 100 million, more than died in WWI. Unusual for killing healthy young adults, not just the elderly. Not actually from Spain, neutral Spain reported it freely while wartime censors suppressed news elsewhere. In 2005 scientists reconstructed the virus from preserved tissue samples to study why it was so deadly.
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