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Critics accurately called it the Epidemic That Never Was. In February 1976, a 19-year-old Army recruit, Pvt. David Lewis, reported to his drill sergeant at Fort Dix that he was feeling lethargic. Shortly thereafter he died of something similar to the deadly Spanish influenza that killed 20 million people in 1918 and 1919. After four other soldiers at Fort Dix became ill, Congress decided to enact an ambitious $135 million program with the lofty goal to innoculate all 220 milliion people in the United States against Swine Flu--so called because it was usually found in pigs. This photo shows president Gerald Ford signing the legislation into law. It proved to be wholly unnecessary. Only one person, Pvt. David Lewis, died of the flu. Many more are believed to have died from adverse reactions to the innoculations. The end result was national cynicism about all innoculation programs.
Tags:
Swine
flu
Added: 18th November 2007
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
 
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