Yes it's true, I pulled out Ft. Riley from a century ago...you DID put this post under 'fun-and-humour,' right? ...why not credit Kansas with this one also?
...and I do recall also that you found some interesting information making a strong case that the Spanish flu might have also originated in China.
On a more somber note, however, after we had that conversation I found an interesting video suggesting that nature is full of viruses potentially pathogenic, and that as the human population increases we might need to re-work our somewhat casual relationship to acknowledge the possibility such pathogens endemic.
Seems to me a potentially more fruitful course than spend lots of energy trying to blame China or Ft. Detrick MD.
*** late note--- the link you provided is interesting, I saved it to my coronavirus file (yes I do know COVID is not the flu). I did not realize the 2nd wave was so much deadlier than the first...it mutated very quickly then. Also did not realize the 3rd wave was deadlier than the first, but not as much as the 2nd.
Tink, do you study what is going on with this current SARS-CoV-2, how it operates? I just saw (from a source I consider credible) that this virus can ride on 2.5 micron particulate matter, which is small enough to get into alveoli and from there enter the blood stream. The point being, that the tiny particulates from air pollution have already crossed the alveoli becoming systemic, and have already weakened people, causing many deaths even without a virus...then the virus comes along, complicating already compromised people, affecting them systemically...supposed to be one of the reasons NYC among other large cities was so devastated, people already weakened by air pollution.
Another point being, that even w/o COVID we accept tens of k's of deaths from air pollution, and then a novel coronavirus hits...devastation...I just gave you massive information quickly, have you looked into all this kind of thing?
Now ima go look up, because with the fast mutation that Spanish flu MUST be an RNA virus?
***Second postscript...found this interesting article from the CDC...poignantly, it was last reviewed in December 2019...but they have been able to study why the Spanish flu was so virulent. And here is an intriguing quote from the article; at that time, they were clearly thinking of future pandemic in terms of influenza...
"While all of these plans, resources, products and improvements show that significant progress has been made since 1918, gaps remain, and a severe pandemic could still be devastating to populations globally. In 1918, the world population was 1.8 billion people. One hundred years later, the world population has grown to 7.6 billion people in 2018. As human populations have risen, so have swine and poultry populations as a means to feed them. This expanded number of hosts provides increased opportunities for novel influenza viruses from birds and pigs to spread, evolve and infect people."
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html