all the talk of the 'rona and the 'vid makes me think, I guess this is how people felt when they first heard "the 'flu"
and now, 181 years later... (sez etymonline - I wondered if it might date back to the Spanish flu but nope, much older)
― a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 17 March 2020 20:27 (four years ago) link