As World War I headed into its bloody homestretch a century ago, an even deadlier event was ramping up: A full third of the Earth’s population was on its way to contracting influenza. Of the 500 million people who got sick during what was to become known as the Spanish flu pandemic, at least one in 10 perished — making it a medical catastrophe of almost unrivaled proportions.

A century later, research spearheaded by Benjamin Dalziel, an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s College of Science, is paving the way toward city planning and management that takes influenza outbreak control into account. The more residents a city has and the more organized their movement patterns, the longer its flu season is apt to last, his work has shown.