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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pandemic Flu Storybook provides readers with an intimate look at the impact pandemic flu events have had on both survivors and the families and friends of non-survivors. The stories within the pages of this book are not folklore, but personal recollections from the 1918 and 1957 events. This collection of stories was first released online in 2008 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic occurred towards the end of World War I. Despite the intensity of that global conflict, more people died during the flu pandemic than were killed during the entire war. The death toll from the flu was an estimated 50–100 million worldwide; in the United States, about 675,000 died. The 1957 flu pandemic killed 1–2 million worldwide and caused approximately 70,000 deaths in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pandemic Flu Storybook provides readers with an intimate look at the impact pandemic flu events have had on both survivors and the families and friends of non-survivors. The stories within the pages of this book are not folklore, but personal recollections from the 1918 and 1957 events. This collection of stories was first released online in 2008 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic occurred towards the end of World War I. Despite the intensity of that global conflict, more people died during the flu pandemic than were killed during the entire war. The death toll from the flu was an estimated 50–100 million worldwide; in the United States, about 675,000 died. The 1957 flu pandemic killed 1–2 million worldwide and caused approximately 70,000 deaths in the United States.