From our history section: Patient Zero for the “Spanish Flu” was a private at an Army base in Kansas, this month in 1918; according to Republicans the “Spanish Flu” should therefore be renamed the “United States Flu”…

It ended up being called the "Spanish flu" because the Spanish press did not suppress the story. From history.com: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-cases-reported-in-deadly-influenza-epidemic