Has anyone here ever heard of the 1918 Influenza Outbreak? An epidemic that lasted two full years, went around the world and killed between 20-40 million people.
The worst pandemic in known history.
The first markings of this "plague" came around the cheeks. Red and black, the ring of roses. The last symptoms were vile, horrible sneezes that threw blood and puss out of the lungs, quickly culminating in a wheezing death. Other rhymes were also invented about this pandemic, so maybe, was "Ring around the roses."