kent nickell
Well-known member
I've started to read 'Black November: The 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand' by historian Geoffrey Rice which seems very well written and researched. I'm looking at the 2nd edition (2005), the first edition was 1988
a few excerpts from the introduction to the first edition...
""Fears of a breakdown in public morale resluted in an official ban on the publication of death tolls, but rumour and the lengthy columns of death notices in the newspapers quickly magnified the presumed losses from tens to hundreds and from hundreds to thousands, creating exactly the opposite effect from that intended. When the official totals were finally published they attracted little notice, whereas the rumours of mass graves and burials at sea had been widely accepted as fact. Even today, some survivors still repeat such rumours, or believe there was an official cover-up to conceal the truth. Many more tried to forget the epidemic, along with all the other horrors of the First World War. As a result, the 1918 influenza epidemic might well be called New Zealand's forgotten disaster, or its least understood.""
""Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed by the influx of pneumonic flu cases, and teams of volunteers set up emergency hospitals in schools, church halls and under canvas. Some places even used racecourse grandstands. Soup kitchens were organised to feed hundreds of helpless convalescents, with teams of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides as couriers. Two new inventions made this epidemic easier to deal with than any previous one: the telephone and the petrol engine enabled rapid communications and transport of victims. Where a town mobilised rapidly, there was a good chance that the death toll from pneumonia could be held in check, but places where the flu hit suddenly and many people were stricken all at once took longer to respond effectively, and a few paid dearly with higher than average death rates.""
""Thus the first mild wave of the pandemic in the northern hemisphere had largely run its course by August, with the southern hemisphere following a few nonths behind, as one would expect, given the long sea voyages for steamers traveling to South America, Australia and New Zealand.
What happened next, however, baffled medical experts at the time and has puzzled epidemiologists ever since. It was as if the infection that had been 'seeded' around the world suddenly changed character and burst forth, almost simultaneously, in both northern and southern hemispheres. This contradicted all previous pandemic experience, and so did the resluting pattern of mortality. Instead of killing people at either end of life, the very young and the very old, this pandemic proceeded to kill in unprecedented numbers otherwise healthy young adults in the prime of life, aged between 25 and 45. This highly unusual age incidence was the most distinctive feature of the 1918 flu all around the world. The so-called 'Spanish' influenza was something of a freak among influenza pandemics.""
This last segment seems somewhat similar to one of Dr. Nimans commentaries... http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05090701/H5N1_Evolution_Egypt_Russia_Ghana.html
Simultaneous H5N1 Acquisitions in Egypt Russia and Ghana
Recombinomics Commentary
May 9, 2007
a few excerpts from the introduction to the first edition...
""Fears of a breakdown in public morale resluted in an official ban on the publication of death tolls, but rumour and the lengthy columns of death notices in the newspapers quickly magnified the presumed losses from tens to hundreds and from hundreds to thousands, creating exactly the opposite effect from that intended. When the official totals were finally published they attracted little notice, whereas the rumours of mass graves and burials at sea had been widely accepted as fact. Even today, some survivors still repeat such rumours, or believe there was an official cover-up to conceal the truth. Many more tried to forget the epidemic, along with all the other horrors of the First World War. As a result, the 1918 influenza epidemic might well be called New Zealand's forgotten disaster, or its least understood.""
""Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed by the influx of pneumonic flu cases, and teams of volunteers set up emergency hospitals in schools, church halls and under canvas. Some places even used racecourse grandstands. Soup kitchens were organised to feed hundreds of helpless convalescents, with teams of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides as couriers. Two new inventions made this epidemic easier to deal with than any previous one: the telephone and the petrol engine enabled rapid communications and transport of victims. Where a town mobilised rapidly, there was a good chance that the death toll from pneumonia could be held in check, but places where the flu hit suddenly and many people were stricken all at once took longer to respond effectively, and a few paid dearly with higher than average death rates.""
""Thus the first mild wave of the pandemic in the northern hemisphere had largely run its course by August, with the southern hemisphere following a few nonths behind, as one would expect, given the long sea voyages for steamers traveling to South America, Australia and New Zealand.
What happened next, however, baffled medical experts at the time and has puzzled epidemiologists ever since. It was as if the infection that had been 'seeded' around the world suddenly changed character and burst forth, almost simultaneously, in both northern and southern hemispheres. This contradicted all previous pandemic experience, and so did the resluting pattern of mortality. Instead of killing people at either end of life, the very young and the very old, this pandemic proceeded to kill in unprecedented numbers otherwise healthy young adults in the prime of life, aged between 25 and 45. This highly unusual age incidence was the most distinctive feature of the 1918 flu all around the world. The so-called 'Spanish' influenza was something of a freak among influenza pandemics.""
This last segment seems somewhat similar to one of Dr. Nimans commentaries... http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05090701/H5N1_Evolution_Egypt_Russia_Ghana.html
Simultaneous H5N1 Acquisitions in Egypt Russia and Ghana
Recombinomics Commentary
May 9, 2007
