Current speculation and concern about the dangers of avian flu and the chances for a fatal worldwide siege recall for Kansas University and Lawrence historians the terrifying situation that existed here during the pandemic of 1918.

KU was closed down for a full month and, before it reopened on Nov. 8, nearly 1,000 faculty, students and staff had been hit by the disease and 24 had died. The entire community of Lawrence was ravaged. Public gatherings were minimized or eliminated. Medical students were enlisted to take care of the ailing and many young women volunteered for nursing duties. Young men in the Student Army Training Corps at the university were ordered by their commander to stand guard at local theaters to keep out people who might contribute to the epidemic.

Some referred to the ailment as “The Hun Flu,” which they contended had been introduced into the United States by German agents active during World War I, which was just winding down in Europe. Yet it all may have started in Kansas.

By the time the epidemic finally passed in the United States in November of 1918, the flu had killed more than 600,000 Americans, the single worst human disaster in American history. Worldwide, it is estimated the flu caused at least 25 million deaths; some records indicate that as many as 37 million died. It was a carnage far beyond anything created by World War I.

According to Lori Goodson in a 1998 article in the Manhattan Mercury, about the time the flu was dying out in America, the Army’s 89th Division at Fort Riley was deployed to France. Evidence is that American troops helped spread the disease to the English, Germans, French and Spanish. It became known as the “Spanish flu” because Spain was one of the hardest-hit countries and its king almost died from the disease.

When the flu first hit hard at Fort Riley in March of 1918, more than 500 cases of flu were discovered and 46 died. By the fall of 1918, soldiers at the Kansas fort were dying so fast they had to be “piled up” in a warehouse until coffins could be found. By mid-October, according to the Goodson article, more than 12,000 cases had been found in Kansas. By the end of the year, the state of Kansas had recorded 12,000 flu deaths.

Some medical experts think comparisons of the current flu threat to the flu of 1918 have alarmed the public unnecessarily. They say there are many scenarios in which the current bird flu won’t mutate into a form as deadly as the 1918 virus.

“Even if we accept the Spanish flu scenario, health conditions in 1918 were far worse in most of the world than they are now,” explained one New York University specialist. “Many people lived in squalor; 17 million influenza deaths occurred in India, versus about half a million deaths in the United States. There were no flu vaccinations, no antiviral drugs, and containment by isolating infected individuals wasn’t effective, largely because of poor information and poor compliance. Today’s media reach could be a useful tool to aid compliance. Of course, the concern that air travel can spread viral infections faster may be valid, but infected migratory birds were sufficient in 1918.”

It easy to see why some have a tendency to panic about frequent news of the avian flu threat via Asia. Those familiar with what happened in Kansas and Lawrence in 1918 shudder at the prospect of a 2005 version of the tragedy.