AJC Flashback Photos: How Georgia and the U.S. handled mass illness

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AJC Flashback Photos: How Georgia and the U.S. handled mass illness

While COVID-19 is new and unique, the people of Atlanta, Georgia and the United States have dealt with mass illnesses before. Here's how.

A Naval Aircraft Factory float with hull of a patrol seaplane in Philadelphia's Fourth Liberty Loan parade on Sept. 28, 1918. Today, historians blame the packed event for the spread of the devastating influenza epidemic in the city. MUST CREDIT: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

1976 - Swine flu vaccine. (BILL MAHAN/AJC staff) 1976

19861120 - Dick Bruce of the CDC's immunization branch stands amid 40 million doses of swine flu vaccine that is stored in a warehouse in Chamblee. (JONATHAN NEWTON/AJC staff) 1986

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Today's Gallery Headlines

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (right) confers with state Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, at the Wild Hog supper, the traditional kickoff to the legislative session in Atlanta, on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

PHOTOS: Georgia legislative session kicks off with Wild Hog Supper

People join in a chant on the 17th Street Bridge in Atlanta on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, while protesting the ICE shooting of Renee Good and the U.S. military action in Venezuela. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

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