https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1918-08-22/ed-1/seq-12/#date1=1918&sort=date&date2=1918&words=influenza&language=&sequence=0&lccn=&index=0&state=&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=influenza&year=&phrasetext=&andtext=&proxValue=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=43

The Swiss government blames the famine in Germany for propagating the 'Spanish Influenza.' The information is in a letter from the leader of the Committee on Public Information in Switzerland to her spouse. In Switzerland all public meetings have been banned, and despite been well-fed the deaths in the army are alarming.

Source: "'Spanish Influenza' Start in Germany," New York Tribune, New York, NewYork, August 22, 1918. Page 12, Column 7.