Ottawa History

Spanish Flu

The plague of the Spanish influenza was one of the worst epidemics in human history. The plague spread through the world during the end of the First World War. By the end of its run, the Spanish Flu had infected over one half of the world population and had killed 20 to 40 million. This fast-spreading epidemic worked its way through Canada and killed 30,000 to 50,000 Canadians during a 4 to 5-month period.

This influenza strain was thought to have been brought to Canada and the United States by soldiers returning home after the war. Due to the lack of national co-ordination and a lack of knowledge and understanding of the virus, each city was forced to deal with the epidemic by itself without national or provincial aid.