The devastating influenza viral infection seems to have originated either in British Army camps in the years from 1916 to 1917 or United States Army training camps in the spring of 1918, and it also appeared in New York City. Despite these likely locations of origin, the influenza pandemic from 1918-1920 will always be referred to as the Spanish flu. Spain had remained a neutral country during World War I, so there was greater freedom of press in Spain than in the allied countries (Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States). Though allied countries were experiencing the influenza pandemic, these war-engaged countries wanted the public to focus on providing resources to fight rather than fearing a virus, so the first time the
