Tuesday, February 28, 2012

1918 Flu Epidemic

As I suffered through a bad cold this month in Ottawa, I started to wander how people dealt with the flu epidemic or the Spanish Flu that stuck people in 1918. I have found out that they now estimated that maybe between 40 to 50 million people worldwide may have died in the fall of 1918. Approximately, 50,000 would have been in Canada.

So I found some websites that talk about the epidemic as it struck Canada less than a year after the completion of the First World War, and the sites are -

1918 Flu Epidemic www.cbc.ca/news/background/flu/fluepidemic.html It gives a history of the flu as it hit in the fall of 1918.

1918 Flu Pandemic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic A short, but comprehensive history of the flu of 1918.

The Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 in Ottawa,Ontario, Canada www.bytown.net/flu1918.htm A very interesting paper on the flu written by Marc St. Pierre.

Spanish Influenza Epidemic- Fall 1918: Tragedy on the home front www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/firstworldwar/025005-3100-e.html This website gives a concise history of the flu (the site says that 50,000 people died of the flu), plus a few extra websites to visit online.

Thematic Guides - Unpublished Guides:Spanish Flu Epidemic www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/005-1142.18-e.html A list of guides at the Library and Archives Canada to the flu of 1918.

Note: A couple of weeks ago, as part of my blog concerning disasters, I received a note from fellow Ottawa blogger, John D. Reid (famous for his always informative and entertaining Anglo-Celtic Connections blog - http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/), drawing my attention to the following -

“Hello Elizabeth:

I see from your blog you've developed an interest in disasters. Maybe you'd also like to mention this article that attempts to capture all types of Canadian disaster that took 20 or more lives at http://web.ncf.ca/jonesb/DisasterPaper/disasterpaper.html

John"

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Books

I have just published two booklets - The War of 1812: Canada and the United States, and Migration: Canada and the United States.

They are available for purchase through Global Genealogy at http://globalgenealogy.com/, the National Institute of Genealogical Studies at http://www.genealogicalstudies.com/, and now, in the U.S., from the Family Roots Publishing Company at http://www.familyrootspublishing.com/.

For more on the booklets, go to http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/booklet-1-war-of-1812-canada-and-united.html and http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/booklet-2-migration-canada-and-united.html