10/22/07 Equine Flu 1872

The leaves are turning, the nights growing colder and the flu season is just around the corner, I'm Jeff Keane, and I'll be right back with how an equine flu once brought the US to a standstill. The recent onset of equine flu outbreaks raging through Australia and New Zealand has brought back memories of the 1872 flu epidemic in North America. Here's Becky with more on how this bug brought our nation to its knees. In a country powered solely by horseflesh, the outbreak became known as the Great Epizootic. The equine virus was traced back to Toronto, Canada and it took only 90 days for the disease to spread like wild fire across the entire continent. Work and private horses alike were rendered useless with official estimates finding 80 to 99 percent of the nation's equine ill, claiming the lives of some 4 million horses in America before the disease ran its course. With the lack of horse power men were forced to pull wagons by hand and ships full of cargo sat idle in the docks, even the US Calvary was reduced to fighting the Apaches on foot, who also found there mounts too sick to battle. The total suspension of travel and economic progress propelled our horse driven nation to find new transportation options to safeguard the economy from future epidemics. While this pandemic was felt nationwide, we'll be back tomorrow to share how this crippling flu nearly found the city of Boston in complete ruins. I'm Jeff Keane.