The 1918 Spanish Flu

June 11, 2020

This article was done in partnership with the Lac du Bonnet & District Historical Society. It appeared in the June 11, 2020 edition of the Lac du Bonnet Clipper.

Many believe history repeats itself. While in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, startling similarities can be made to the Spanish flu outbreak from 100 years ago.

The Spanish flu pandemic began in January 1918, ravaging the war front of Europe. Now regarded as one of the deadliest in human history, this flu primarily affected the “young and hearty.” The second wave of the pandemic in late 1918 was deadlier than the first, with October 1918 having the highest death toll.

The virus arrived in Winnipeg on September 30, 1918. Twenty-three soldiers on a train headed west were symptomatic and evacuated to the Tuxedo military hospital. Precautions were taken by hospital and railway officials to prevent the spread and the men were quarantined. Newspaper reports in the days that followed assured people the “situation was well in hand.”

By mid-October, Manitoba was in the middle of an outbreak. In Winnipeg, hospitals were full, requiring other buildings to be converted into temporary hospitals. A call went out for volunteers to help the struggling health care system: men drove makeshift ambulances, while women attended nursing courses provided by St. John’s Ambulance. All public gatherings were banned. Movie theatres and dance halls closed. All school, university and college classes, along with church services, were cancelled. Some teachers took up nursing. Even the telephone system was affected: with many operators out sick, authorities asked phones only be used in emergencies. Advice from health officials was to stay home.

The network of rail lines, roads and waterways carried the virus to rural and remote areas of the province. A mass grave marks the devastation on the Sagkeeng First Nation. 

In the Lac du Bonnet area, the full effect of the pandemic is unknown. The local newspaper didn’t start until 1945, leaving only family stories and a few casualties’ names that made it into the Manitoba Free Press.

Dr. G. S. Malcolm was the area physician at the time of the outbreak. He, and Donald McCulloch, who operated the dispensary in the Allard Building, had both served in WWI. Midwife, Alexandrine Fournier, was considered “a great help” during the pandemic.

The Spanish flu’s second wave ended by New Year’s. The third and final wave arrived in March 1919, the impact significantly less than the others. Some restrictions had been lifted, while others remained. After playing five games, the 1919 Stanley Cup was cancelled, with no champion team, as very few players were healthy enough to continue. By summer 1919, by no miracle of medical science, the Spanish flu had run its course, leaving those who contracted the virus dead or immune.

Now, as it was then: stay home, stay healthy, stay safe.

References:

Redekop, Bill. “Survival of the Weakest.” Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg, MB), Feb. 15, 2019.

“Spanish Flu Here.” Manitoba Free Press (Winnipeg, MB), Oct. 1, 1918.

“No Decrease Yet in Flu Epidemic.” Manitoba Free Press (Winnipeg, MB), Oct. 19, 1918.

Dickin, Janice, and Patricia G. Bailey, and Erin James-Abra, “1918 Spanish Flu in Canada”. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published March 18, 2020. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/1918-spanish-flu-in-canada

Aileen Oder, ed.,Logs and Lines from the Winnipeg River: A History of the Lac du Bonnet Area (Steinbach, MB: Derksen Printers, 1980), Page 193.