Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. military will no longer mandate the flu vaccine for American troops. He cited “medical autonomy” and religious freedom.
  • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
    47·
    6 days ago

    As is tradition. The Spanish flu was the American flu.

    Within days of the 4 March case at Camp Funston, 522 men at the camp had reported sick.[107] By 11 March 1918, the virus had reached Queens, New York.[108] Failure to take preventive measures in March/April was later criticized.[109]

    As the U.S. had entered World War I, the disease quickly spread from Camp Funston, a major training ground for troops of the American Expeditionary Forces, to other U.S. Army camps and Europe, becoming an epidemic in the Midwest, East Coast, and French ports by April 1918

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

    • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
      12·
      6 days ago

      Ah, beat me to it. Yeah, the Spanish Flu, one of the most deadly pandemics in human history, was initially spread through US military bases. It’s literally one of the reasons why we make sure soldiers are vaccinated.

      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
        2·
        5 days ago

        they were also kept close to domesticated pigs which are the worst things to be in the vicinity when theres flus goes around. since pigs can be infected with multiple flus and act as mixing vessels more easily than humans.

    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
      3·
      5 days ago

      and theres evidence that spanish one had h5n1 in its ancestry, it was a mixture of 4 different flu viruses which used pigs as a mixing vessel.