Trump's grandpa died of Spanish flu in 1918!

Much like COVID-19, the Spanish flu generated a global panic almost a century ago. Many leading figures then had contracted and recovered Spanish flu in 1918 including the US, British and Spanish kings and then Navy secretary Franklin Roosevelt who later became US president. Like COVID-19, the flu came from a respiratory virus that transmitted from animals to people, and had similar pathology.

Hyderabad: During the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918, US President Donald Trump's paternal grandfather Friedrich Trump had died from the pandemic.

Among those who contracted it and recovered were many wartime leaders of the UK and Germany as well as of the US, British and Spanish kings and then Navy secretary Franklin Roosevelt who went on to become US president.

Like COVID-19, the 1918 pandemic came from a respiratory virus that jumped from animals to people, and was transmitted the same way with similar pathology. Social distancing, hand-washing and masks were leading control measures then and now.

But the toll was heavier then on the average people and the poor, crowded in tenements, streetcars and sweaty factories.

Little wonder, an estimated 6,75,000 Americans died in the pandemic, which is thought to have infected one-third of the global population.