1891 Judd Map of the World During the Russian Flu Pandemic of 1889 - 1890

A piece apropos to our current times, this 1891 map of the world is likely the first printed map illustrating the global spread of a coronavirus. A deceptively simple work, the map tracks the spread of the Russian Flu Epidemic from 1889 through 1890 as it swept across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Unlike many world maps, identified locations appear sparingly. Red (for 1889) and blue (for 1890) text, either a specific date or only a month, identify the first known cases of the Russian Flu to be identified in said locations. One can follow the progression of the disease around the world and find it striking the degree to which it mirrors the current Covid-19 infection.

The Russian Flu Pandemic of 1889 - 1890

Although traditionally believed to be an influenza virus, recent research suggests that the Russian Flu pandemic was caused by a zoonotic coronavirus, much like Covid-19. Over fourteen months in 1889 and 1890, along with four subsequent recurrences, the Russian Flu killed about one million people worldwide. Taking a curiously modern approach to this pandemic, the Medical Department of the Local Government Board in Great Britain attempted to trace the disease's progress around the world in real-time. It mobilized the entire British public health system to do so. They sent surveys to all 1,777 sanitary districts in England and Wales and ultimately published a report on their findings, of which included this map. Unfortunately, many of their results, including revelations about disease transmission, and recommendations were not taken seriously. This oversight had grave repercussions during the subsequent 1918-19 Spanish Flu Pandemic.

The Russian Flu and the United States

The similarities between the 1889 pandemic and the current one are uncomfortably similar. The 1889 pandemic, occurring during a golden age for newspapers, was well chronicled. American journalists propagated the belief that the disease would not make it to the U.S. while detailing the catastrophic European death toll. As today, once the disease reached the United States, prominent Americans argued it was nothing to worry about and no worse than the common cold. Another uncanny echo appears in the suggestion of quinine as a treatment by some uneducated public figures, which caused medical professionals to speak out about the dangers of self-medicating.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for publication in the report entitled Report on the Influenza Epidemic of 1889 - 90 overseen by H. Franklin Parsons in 1891. It was printed and engrave by Judd and Company, Lithographer. The separate map is not cataloged in OCLC, but the report does appear. Both are extremely rare on the private market.