Plus the number of people not getting flu shots increasing. On a similar hand -- with planes flying all over the place, I am very surprised that we haven't had a major epidemic or pandemic dropping more than 100 million in the past 40-50 years. Especially with 7 billion people.

My mother was the youngest child of six and born in 1911. Her oldest brother James joined up in 1914 in Edinburgh with the Cameron Highlanders. He survived the Battle of the Somme and the horrors of the trenches. He lost comrades by the dozen but he survived and came home, bringing with him a set of miniature clogs inscribed Ypres for my mother, his little sister. Sadly he succumbed to the influenza epidemic and died a year later. They say that so many men were so weakened that their immune systems could not fight the virus, due to months and in some cases years fighting trench warfare. That is probably why that outbreak was so deadly.

You are correct that we're more urbanized and travel places together more often. You didn't point out the advances in healthcare, though, and basic hygiene.

I think the rise of a super bug is definitely possible, although it is far less likely. Look at ebola. People started dying in Africa, like three people in the US got it and what happened?

News reports came out on what to do to decrease your chances of getting it. Travel bans or warnings were issued, the collective public knew about it almost immediately. The Army sent the 101st Sustainment Brigade out of Fort Campbell to supervise the construction of treatment units, conduct site surveys and provide engineering expertise to infected areas. Soldiers from other units arrived, including doctors. Doctors from the world over arrived to help. Scientists began working on a vaccine and in like six months it was available to the public.

I cannot think that a killer like the Spanish flu in 1918 will happen again. We're much better prepared for a global pandemic than we were.