Overview
At the end of the First World War an influenza pandemic swept across the world and through New Zealand over a short period from October to December 1918.
Originating in the northern hemisphere, this strain of the flu killed an estimated 9000 New Zealanders. An estimated 50 million people died worldwide, which was nearly three times the number of soldiers who died in the First World War.
The 1918 flu pandemic is New Zealand’s worst public health disaster. A high proportion of the dead were young adults, with Māori suffering especially severe losses with about 2500 deaths out of a population of about 50,000. So many people died in such a short period that many had to be buried in mass graves.
Fighting the spread
The pandemic hit New Zealand around the time that the Allied forces signed the Armistice (truce) with Germany on 11 November 1918. As the disease swept the nation, volunteers were mobilised to contain it. In towns around the country, they set up ‘inhalation chambers’, where the pressure sprayer below was used. The spray was useless, and the gatherings of people may have helped spread the disease.