A Forgotten Enemy: Omaha Encounters the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Influenza, or the flu as it is commonly called, is considered nothing more than a mild physical nuisance that requires little more than bed rest and aspirin. In 1918, however, this acute respiratory ailment elicited a greatly different response from the ordinary citizen. A deadly and highly contagious strain of the influenza virus emerged in 1918 that encompassed the globe in a matter of months. Although the 1918 influenza pandemic killed over twenty-two million people world-wide, of which over seven-hundred thousand were Americans, the deadly pandemic is rarely acknowledged as a catastrophic event. This study investigates Omaha, Nebraska\u27s response to the pandemic and the effect that the virus had upon the economic, political, and social mechanisms of a large urban center in the central United States