John, just getting in touch with my inner-nerd: Here’s an interesting abstract suggesting that the reason the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 hit Iran so severely was poor development, drug addiction, and public health backwardness. Not earth shattering conclusions, but certainly against the grain of current historiography. (Afkhami is now the leading expert on the history of quarantine in the Middle East; while still a student five years ago, he published in NRO).