Pandemi ini pertama kali dimulai pada 4 Maret 1918 lewat kasus bernama Albert Gitchell, seorang juru masak tentara di [[Camp Funston]], [[Kansas]], United States, despitemeskipun thereterdapat likelykemungkinan havingadanya beenkasus casessebelum before himdirinya.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Spinney |first=Laura |title=Pale rider: the Spanish flu of 1918 and how it changed the world |date=2018 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-1-78470-240-3 |location= |oclc=1090305029 |page=36}}</ref> ThePenyakit diseaseini hadtelah beendiamati observed indi [[Haskell County, Kansas|Haskell County]] inpada JanuaryJanuari 1918,promptingdan mendorong localdokter doctorsetempat Loring Miner tountuk warnmemperingati thejurnal akademik [[USDinas PublicKesehatan HealthMasyarakat ServiceAmerika Serikat]]'s academic journal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barry|first=John M|date=2004-01-20|title=The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications|journal=Journal of Translational Medicine|volume=2|issue=1|page=3|doi=10.1186/1479-5876-2-3|issn=1479-5876|pmid=14733617|pmc=340389}}</ref> WithinDalam daysbeberapa hari, 522 menat thepria campdi hadkamp reporteddilaporkan sicksakit.<ref>{{cite web|title=1918 Flu (Spanish flu epidemic)|url=http://www.avian-bird-flu.info/spanishfluepidemic1918.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521071645/http://www.avian-bird-flu.info/spanishfluepidemic1918.html|archive-date=21 May 2008|website=Avian Bird Flu}}</ref> ByPada 11 March Maret 1918, the virus hadtelah reachedmencapai [[Queens]], [[New York]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sheidlower|first=Noah|date=2020-03-17|title=How NYC Survived the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic|url=https://untappedcities.com/2020/03/17/how-nyc-survived-the-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=Untapped New York|language=en-US}}</ref> FailureKegagalan tomengambil taketindakan preventivepencegahan measurespada inbulan Maret atau March/April waskemudian latermendapat criticizedkritik.{{sfn|Billings|1997}}
