How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses

(a parallel to today's effects of covid and the energy price shock to the economy?)

In 1872 the U.S. economy was growing as the young nation industrialized and expanded westward. Then in the autumn, a sudden shock paralyzed social and economic life. It was an energy crisis of sorts, but not a shortage of fossil fuels. Rather, the cause was a virus that spread among horses and mules from Canada to Central America.

https://history.utk.edu/how-a-flu-virus-shut-down-the-us-economy-in-1872-by-infecting-horses/