Influenza Continues to Spread in Wilson But It's Not as Bad as In Other Places, 1918

“The Influenza,” from The Wilson Times, Oct. 8, 1918

The influenza continues to spread in Wilson but not to the extent that it has in some other towns. Some 1,200 cases are reported in Rocky Mount, 1,500 in Goldsboro, several thousand in Wilmington with 43 deaths there to date. The disease has reached such a state there that Dr. Stiles has been sent by the government to Wilmington to combat the disease. The two ports, Wilmington and Norfolk, have spread the infection over the state, it having been brought across the water to these places and from thence flowed out over the state.

Here in Wilson there has been an increase of probably 50 cases since Saturday, the cases here now numbering around 350. So far there have been no deaths today. There has been a total of five deaths from the disease in this city, two of them from nearby towns.

The disease is spreading in the county and the people should be extremely careful as to how they expose themselves to the infection. There are three physicians in the county so far down with the malady. They are Doctor L.V. Grady of the Rock Ridge section, Dr. Wade Anderson and Dr. E.L. Strickland of this city. The other doctors are hard at work combating the disease.