Irish Examiner view: Quality of information all important

Fighting the pandemic

It is hoped Leo Varadkar's promises are plausible.

Though scientists are not certain about the origin of the 1918 Spanish flu, they are positive that it did not begin in Spain. There are many contenders for that dubious honour, France, China, and Britain among them. 

The first confirmed case was reported in Kansas in March 1918. Yet the Kansas flu became known as the Spanish flu because First World War censorship meant newspapers published in countries controlled by the Allied powers were precluded from reporting the outbreak. This left the grab-a-scoop door open for neutral Spain’s news organisations and they obliged.