Brianna, Justin, Janae, Jenell

What is an epidemic?
An epidemic is a widespread of infectious disease that spreads in a area. An example of an
epidemic is the Spanish Flu.

What kind of disease is it - bacterial or viral?
The spanish flu is a viral disease. It is a virus.

What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of the Spanish Flu are extreme fatigue, fever and headache. The victims would
turn blue.

How is it transmitted?
It is transmitted through the air. When someone who has it sneezes, you can inhale the virus.
Another way to get it is if there is direct contact with a person who has the virus on their hands
or even skin.

What parts of the US and neighboring countries were affected?
At the time they didnt know for sure where it had started, but the flu then spread through
Kansas and Fort Riley. Slowly American troops went into Europe and it spread there. The flu
went to Spain. From there it spread to Russia, India, China, and Africa.

What do we know about the disease that they didnt know during the epidemic?
We know that they still havent found a cure and that it is still out there today. But we have
weaker vaccines to prevent it.

Who was the instrumental in eliminating it?
No one was able to eliminate it. It went away by itself.

How did they find the source or cause?
Patient Zero (first person to get the virus) was a company cook named Private Albert Gitchell. At
first he thought he had just came down with a just a bad cold. But when he went to the infirmary
they had to put him under quarantine. Within an hour, several other soldiers came down with the
same symptoms and were also put under quarantine.

History of this epidemic, from when discovered to final end:
First reported cases were on Fort Riley. The company cook caught it but he thought it was just a
bad cold. He was where the new recruits were trained. He was quarantined but it spread. From
there the troops went to Europe. The Spanish Flu got to Europe. It then struck France. Finally it
got to Spain. From there it spread to Russia, China, India and Africa. The Spanish Flu then gets
deadly. Being extremely contagious and spreading so quickly, a second wave hit Boston, United
States; Brest, France; and Freetown, Sierra Leone in late August 1918. Finally in November 11,
1918 it spread again because people decided to give kisses and hugs to the returning soldiers.
So it spreads again.

What advances in medicine, technology, communication or other do we have that helps
us avoid these epidemics today?
Today we are able to stop it because we have new technology. We are able to see with
microscopes to see who actually has the virus and who doesnt. Today we have gloves and
masks that we could use to be more sanitary. We also give people a vaccine before the actual
stronger virus comes in their bodies.