GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Killer flu left gaping hole in Kimberley’s population
As the centenary of the pandemic that left hundreds of thousands dead nears, scientists believe they have the answer to this mystery
For years, epidemiologists puzzled over a South African medical mystery that involved two cities and a deadly plague. Johannesburg got off lightly when the disease swept across the Rand nearly 100 years ago, but 500km away in Kimberley, the population was hit hard. As the centenary of the pandemic that left hundreds of thousands dead nears, scientists believe they have the answer to this mystery — it had much to do with luck. In 1918, just as the First World War was drawing to an end, a deadly flu swept the globe. As it devastated the countries and communities, the pandemic became known by different names. To the amaXhosa, it was umbathalala, while the West referred to it as the Spanish flu. When it disappeared months later, the virus had killed more people than the Black Death and left its mark on how future generations dealt with pandemics. Soon scientists will mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Spanish flu. Medical conferences have been planned and books are being written....
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