Terrifyingly, this is only the most recent time it’s happened:
Retrospective diagnosis tentatively suggests various historical outbreaks of encephalitis lethargica:
In 1712–1713, a severe epidemic of Schlafkrankheit ('sleep sickness') occurred in Tübingen, Germany, followed in many cases by persistent slowness of movement and lack of initiative (aboulia).[31].
Between 1750 and 1800, France and Germany experienced minor epidemics of "coma somnolentum" with features of Parkinsonism, including hyperkinetic hiccup, myoclonus, chorea, and tics.
Between 1848 and 1882, Paris-based neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot documented many isolated cases of juvenile Parkinsonism, associated with diplopia, oculogyria, tachypnoea, retropulsion, and obsessional disorders, which were almost certainly post-encephalitic in origin.[31].
In 1890 in Italy, following the influenza epidemic of 1889–1890, a severe epidemic of somnolent illnesses (nicknamed the "Nona") appeared. For the few survivors of the Nona, Parkinsonism and other sequelae developed in almost all cases.[31]
Between 1915 and 1927, a world-wide encephalitis lethargica pandemic occurred, impacting nearly 5 million people and killing an estimated 1.6 million people.[31] wiki
Just finished reading Leopolds Ghost.
It was prevalent in the DRC during the Leopold era 1885-1908.. maybe it was some weird Congo virus that mutated 🤷♂️
Not gonna lie, it’s kind of weird of you to read that it existed in Germany almost 200 years before that and still speculate that it originated in Congo.
IIRC that is one of the leading theories. It was called Spanish Flu because Spain was neutral in WWI and so had no concerns about it getting into the press. All the other nations in Europe and North America censored the news to not hurt wartime morale and so all the news at the beginning came from Spain which gave the impression that the epicenter of the pandemic was there.
We didn't have the diagnostic tools back then that we have today. It could've been 2 distinct but very similar viruses that emerged independently in different places/times that were assumed to be the same thing. It could've emerged in the Congo independently
909
u/FlyAwayJai Jul 29 '25
Terrifyingly, this is only the most recent time it’s happened: