Spanish Flu Outbreak 1918-- Part 5: Struck at Camp Grant First in the Area

The first cases to hit the northern Illinois area were identified at Camp Grant  in Rockford.  Some newspapers speculated that Boone County actually had cases of Spanish flu as early as February 1918, but local doctors misdiagnosed then as secondary effects of the scarlet fever.

By October of 1918, though, the deadly virus was everywhere.  Due to the close proximity of soldier living quarters at Camp Grant in Rockford, hundreds were admitted every day to the military hospital there.  There was a record 768 hospitalizations in one day.

There were so many deaths that officers decided not to broadcast the total number to avoid a general public panic.  Military vehicles were used as ambulances for the camp and for Winnebago and surrounding counties, including Boone.

Here in Belvidere, schools, churches and theaters were closed before the sate banned attendance at any public gatherings effective October 18, 1918.  Once the state ban took effect, funerals, weddings, lodge meetings, government meetings/councils and hospital visits were not allowed.

The state also mandated masks for anyone in contact with the public outside of their own families.

--DaCoot