As a genealogist, this stat really hit home. Anabaptist communities were decimated by the Kansas Flu of 1918 (Usually called the Spanish Flu because Neutral Spain's Free Press was the only one allowed to report on it, so most people not in the loop thought it started there. Ironically, the Spanish Press called it the French Flu. It actually originated in Kansas.)
A former microbiologist and Steinbach resident, Dr. Glen Klassen, conducted research on the pandemic back in 2008 at the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. His interest in the subject stemming from the 2007 Faith Community Pandemic Summit, which he helped to organize.
“I decided to study my own community,” shares Klassen, “Mennonites of southern Manitoba in four municipalities, Hanover, Stanley, Rhineland, and Morris.”
What he found, he says, was startling. “The death rates for Mennonites were pretty well double the death rates of non-Mennonites.”
Slight correction; the Spanish Flu actually originated in China. If you'll read the article, you can see that it spread due to Chinese labourers not being given any opportunity for taking sick leave, so they worked whilst sick in mobile work crews and ended up spreading it across Canada and eventually the U.S.
I think the article you posted has a good point. Calling it the "Kansas Flu" is a great way to ruin your credibility so that nobody will want to listen to you. Whilst the Spanish Flu had nothing to do with Spain, that's the accepted, general term for it, so let's stick to using that term.
When you see Hemorrhagic fevers, look to Africa
When you see viral respiratory illness, look to China
Yes, our social patterns do lend themself to passing around respiratory virus. We socialize around meetings and food in a manner that I have never seen elsewhere. Our children play together, and generally attend the same schools.
Some of the things that attracted me to the conservative mennonite church are the reasons we are likely to pass viral illnesses to each other. It is likely what is causing my withdrawal symptoms, I have a really tough time staying away.
I heard an interview on a news podcast the other day (I forget which one) in which the interviewee mentioned that health experts are worried about COVID-19 outbreaks among Amish and Mennonites because of their close socialization patterns.
Judas Maccabeus wrote:When you see Hemorrhagic fevers, look to Africa
When you see viral respiratory illness, look to China
The reason why China is interesting: apparently it has to do with the fact they were the first people to domesticate geese, and later, ducks, who just happen to be more suited to being zoonotic reservoirs for flus, combined with various cultural factors that made it possible for the diseases to occasionally jump to humans.
Judas Maccabeus wrote:When you see Hemorrhagic fevers, look to Africa
When you see viral respiratory illness, look to China
The reason why China is interesting: apparently it has to do with the fact they were the first people to domesticate geese, and later, ducks, who just happen to be more suited to being zoonotic reservoirs for flus, combined with various cultural factors that made it possible for the diseases to occasionally jump to humans.
JM, spot on, with only a few exceptions of course.
Re China, they have a penchant for what we would call exotic meats: pangolin for one, which also a factor in zoonotic pathogens.
The open air meat markets with onsite butcheries that aren’t maintained to Western hygiene standards don’t help either.
I don't agree with the reason. Other churches socialize at least as much as Mennonites do. Our boys go to a non Mennonite church school. There are always activities, more than most Mennonite activities. They have Saturday breakfast, birthday parties, Wednesday night suppers, basketball games, cross country, holiday activities, outreach activities, preschool, youth group, Sunday School socials, MOPS, several prayer and sick ministries, etc. Do you really think the non Mennonites just sit at home and don't socialize?
The real reason probably has to do with lack of access to health care or lack of good hygiene practices. These are real reasons that lead to poor health outcomes.
I Timothy wrote:I don't agree with the reason. Other churches socialize at least as much as Mennonites do. Our boys go to a non Mennonite church school. There are always activities, more than most Mennonite activities. They have Saturday breakfast, birthday parties, Wednesday night suppers, basketball games, cross country, holiday activities, outreach activities, preschool, youth group, Sunday School socials, MOPS, several prayer and sick ministries, etc. Do you really think the non Mennonites just sit at home and don't socialize?
The real reason probably has to do with lack of access to health care or lack of good hygiene practices. These are real reasons that lead to poor health outcomes.
You do realize that this article was about the spanish flu, and has no relevance to current practice.
Judas Maccabeus wrote:When you see Hemorrhagic fevers, look to Africa
When you see viral respiratory illness, look to China
The reason why China is interesting: apparently it has to do with the fact they were the first people to domesticate geese, and later, ducks, who just happen to be more suited to being zoonotic reservoirs for flus, combined with various cultural factors that made it possible for the diseases to occasionally jump to humans.
JM, spot on, with only a few exceptions of course.
Re China, they have a penchant for what we would call exotic meats: pangolin for one, which also a factor in zoonotic pathogens.
The open air meat markets with onsite butcheries that aren’t maintained to Western hygiene standards don’t help either.
I have been to China, and seen one of these from the balcony. My thought was "Why are these people not dead."
One of the reasons is that these exotic animals are consumed as part of a system of traditional medicine. It includes consumption of all sorts of exotic animals, normally freshly killed. Since opposite cures, bats are a favorite for vision problems. So are other things that come from a bat. Yes it is crazy.
The current government is pushing Chinese traditional medicine really hard. It is their cultural wisdom, or so says the CCP.
