Chapter 373: Influenza Outbreak

After Eder's order, in the ensuing period, Army Group Transylvania, under the leadership of General Salamik, accelerated the liquidation of the Hungarians. They used to have to worry about reputation and the reaction of others, but now they don't care about it at all.

Large numbers of Hungarians, escorted by soldiers, crossed the Tisza River with their belongings and cried to the Hungarian troops on both sides of the river about what had happened to them. It's just that the Hungarian soldiers are now incapable of seeking justice for these people, and now they are unable to protect themselves. Because the Entente did not make a decision on their punishment and reparations, now they themselves do not know what to do.

In East Moldavia, calls for a referendum to join the Kingdom of Romania are also growing. The Romanian garrison in the region was cheered by the population all the time, some spontaneously and some organised. The local media also sang the praises of this, saying that it was a manifestation of democracy in East Moldavia.

In Romania, the media echoed the sentiments, focusing on East Moldavia, which has been home to Romanians since ancient times, and it was time for them to return.

Several of the things that Eder focused on were being carried out in an orderly manner, which gave him a sense of comfort. But in a region he didn't pay attention to, a catastrophe was about to sweep the world.

On 12 August, a British ship, the Montella, had just left the Sierra Leone region of West Africa, laden with cargo procured from the region.

First mate Wells was standing at the bow of the ship, holding a telescope to check the sea nearby.

"Cough, cough, cough."

A cough disturbed the first officer of Wells.

"What's wrong with you, George."

After collecting the binoculars, Wells looked at one of the crew members who was coughing incessantly and asked with concern.

In the face of the first mate's concern, the crew member named George replied with some nonchalance: "I guess I have a cold at the latest, and I have a cold." ”

"You can't do this, let's go to Dr. Ruth and get some medicine later, and then we need half a month to return to the UK."

"Okay, cough, cough, cough, I'll go in a minute."

"Then go as soon as possible, I don't want you to cause the others to cough too."

Seeing George, who couldn't help coughing when he spoke, Wells had no choice but to ask him to go to the hospital as soon as possible.

However, George's cough did not improve after being treated by Dr. Ruth, but worsened. In addition to high fever and headache, there is also a blue face and coughing up blood. More importantly, the rest of the ship became coughing.

By the time they reached the coast off the coast of Portugal, half of the people on board were sick, including the first mate of Wells, and Dr. Ruth on board had nothing to do. The poor crew member, George, also went west, and the crew of the Montella had to throw his body into the sea to prevent the infection from getting worse, and isolate the sick crew. However, where can the small cargo ship be isolated from the virus, and many crew members have been infected.

By the time the Montella arrived in the UK, three-quarters of its crew had been infected, and one in ten had died. In fact, the British government should pay attention to this situation immediately, but the current turmoil of the war situation has left no time for others to pay attention. So when the Montella arrived in England, the sick crew disembarked and sought medical treatment on their own, and in their opinion, the poor medical treatment must be the result of the lack of quality of the ship's doctors.

In this way, the patients immediately scattered, and on September 2, cases of this flu virus were detected in many places in the United Kingdom. On September 5, there was also an outbreak of influenza virus in France. On September 11, there was an outbreak of influenza virus in the United States. On September 12, an outbreak of influenza virus occurred in the Far East. In just half a month, the flu virus broke out all over the world.

Many people are normal in the morning, get sick at noon, and die in the evening. Many cities have restricted citizens from going to public places, and cinemas, dance halls, sports venues, etc. have been closed for long periods of time.

This wave of influenza is different from the influenza in the past, and the mortality rate is particularly high in young adults aged 20~35 years. As a result, the concentrated army of young and middle-aged people became the hardest hit, and the Allies' offensive was forced to stop, and now no one thought about war, but about healing the sick. As the First World War was coming to an end, countries were spreading the good news, and Spain was very honest about the outbreak of influenza in its own country, so it was also called Spanish influenza.

As the world's most lethal flu, Romania has certainly not been spared. On 8 September, the influenza virus was detected in Romania. And Eder, who was extremely sensitive to the flu virus during this time, immediately ordered martial law across the country to fight this flu virus. At the same time, the Minister of Health and Health, Herke, was instructed to send people to monitor the trend in areas where the flu may outbreak, and to send people to publicize the measures to prevent the flu to the residents. For those who have already been infected, they will be immediately quarantined.

And let the prime minister and the government departments immediately cooperate with his work. This keeps Prime Minister Bretianu busy, and he has to manage the referendum in East Moldavia and cooperate with the health department to fight the flu, which is also frustrating enough.

And the actions of the Romanian people in the face of the government are also in turn, who made this flu menacing, and the fatality rate is very high. Many of them were surrounded by patients, which really scared them.

The Romanian military camp was immediately closed and martial law, all of which were frightened by the news from Western Europe. With a fatality rate of 3%-7%, this is comparable to battlefield losses, and everyone will be afraid.

However, despite all the efforts made in Romania, the number of patients is still increasing. And the most worrying thing about this flu is that there is no medical treatment, or that there is no effective drug to treat it. This caused everyone to worry about being infected with the flu virus.

For a time, all kinds of domestic production and living materials became depressed, and the materials on the wharf were piled up, but no one went to work because of the fear of the flu virus. The people working in the factories are also sparse, the streets have become deserted, and everyone is trying to go out as little as possible.

According to later statistics, the Romanian economic index fell by 40% during this period, which is completely equivalent to entering a state of economic crisis.

But it's all worth it. Because of Romania's correct response during this time, the number of deaths from influenza in Europe is also extremely low. The flu killed only 42,100 people, two-thirds less than the 127,000 in neighbouring Bulgaria, not to mention the gap between the populations of the two countries, which is more than double.

And this flu has really caused a lot of losses to all countries, and its global death toll has exceeded that of this war, which can be said to be a complete catastrophe.