Loring Miner

Loring Vinton Miner (1860–1935) was an American physician who is most notable for being the first in the world to identify and describe the Spanish flu.[1]

Loring Miner
Born1860
Kansas
Died30 September 1935
Kansas
EducationUniversity of Ohio

Early life and education

Loring Miner was born in 1860 in Kansas.[2]

He graduated from Ohio University.[2][3] He received his M.D. from Columbus Medical College, in 1886.[4]

He was also self taught in ancient Greek and could easily read classics in the original language.[5]

Career

He began his medical practice in Haskell County, Kansas in 1885.[3] Although he owned one of the first automobiles in this rural area, he relied on a horse and buggy to make house calls at farms and villages throughout the county.[6]

In addition to being a physician, he also served as the county's coroner for a time, as well as county health officer and as a chair in the county's chapter of the Democratic Party.[3] He also owned a grocery store and drugstore.[5]

Spanish flu

In 1918, he became the first person in the United States to report the outbreak of the Spanish flu to the US Health Service.[7] Following the severe illness and death of an elderly woman patient, his practice was besieged with numerous patients, including young and formerly healthy people, suffering with similar symptoms.

Due to the efforts of Loring Miner, it has been theorized that the Spanish flu originated in Kansas.[8]

Death

He died in an automobile accident in Sublette, Kansas, on 30 September 1935.[2][9] He is buried in the Valley View Cemetery, Garden City, Kansas.[9]

References
  1. Barry, John M (2004-01-20). "The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications". Journal of Translational Medicine. 2 (1): 3. doi:10.1186/1479-5876-2-3. ISSN 1479-5876. PMC 340389. PMID 14733617.
  2. "Dr Loring Vinton Miner (1860-1935) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com.
  3. Dawes, Sydney (Aug 5, 2020). "Miner, man of medicine and Ohio University grad, played research role in 1918 pandemic". The Athens NEWS.
  4. "Loren V. Miner". www.ksgenweb.org. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  5. Barry, John M. (August 27, 2020). The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9780241991572 – via Google Books.
  6. Arnold, Catharine (2018-08-28). Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-250-13945-0.
  7. "How a killer flu spread from western Kansas to the world". Associated Press. 23 February 2018.
  8. "The Influenza Pandemic and The War". www.kumc.edu.
  9. Carroll, Andrew (2013). Here is where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History. Crown Archetype. p. 332. ISBN 978-0-307-46397-5.
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