Support provided by:

Center for Biosecurity of UPMC

Oklahoma City Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT)

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Domestic Preparedness

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Case Study

1918, Spanish Influenza Grips the Globe

In 1918 and 1919, the world faced the "Spanish Lady," a particularly severe strain of flu that killed 550,000 in the U.S. alone. To control the spread of disease, Baltimore, Maryland health officials cut retail business hours. This seemed like a sound decision from a public health perspective, but the measure angered hourly retail workers. They needed the income to buy extra heating fuel, which they felt was vital to their and their families' well-being in the midst of an epidemic.

Reference

Schoch-Spana M. Psychosocial consequences of a catastrophic outbreak of disease: lessons from the 1918 pandemic influenza. In Bioterrorism: Psychological and Public Health Interventions, Ursano R, Fullerton C, Norwood A, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2004.