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Story: Epidemics

Influenza pandemic, Christchurch, 1918

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This image displays scenes in Christchurch during the 1918 influenza pandemic. It shows Boy Scouts delivering food to the homes of sick people and a volunteer being driven to visit a patient in a motorcycle sidecar. The central image is of a tram that has been converted to a flu-prevention centre. People queued to be sprayed with a solution of zinc sulfate which was mistakenly believed to kill the flu.

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Christchurch City Libraries

Reference: PhotoCD 6, IMG0094

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How to cite this page

Geoff Rice, Epidemics – The influenza era, 1890s to 1920s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/27788/influenza-pandemic-christchurch-1918 (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Geoff Rice, published 30 March 2011.