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Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. [7] [11] The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980, [10] making smallpox the only human disease to have been eradicated to date.
Smallpox eradicated after years of work to stop spread In 1967, the World Health Organization began an “intensified effort” to eradicate smallpox, a contagious disease caused by the variola virus.
Smallpox is the first disease, and so far the only infectious disease of humans, to be eradicated by deliberate intervention. [6] It became the first disease for which there was an effective vaccine in 1798 when Edward Jenner showed the protective effect of inoculation (vaccination) of humans with material from cowpox lesions. [10]
The history of smallpox extends into pre-history. [1] Genetic evidence suggests that the smallpox virus emerged 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. [2] Prior to that, similar ancestral viruses circulated, but possibly only in other mammals, and possibly with different symptoms.
In contrast, infection of the skin usually led to a milder, localized infection, but, crucially, still induced immunity to the virus. The patient would develop pustules like those caused by naturally acquired smallpox. Eventually, after about two to four weeks, these symptoms would subside, indicating successful recovery and immunity.
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by two strains of virus, Variola major and V. minor. V. minor was the rarer of the two strains, and causes a much less severe disease (sometimes called alastrim), with a fatality rate of around 1%. No treatment is available, and the only protection is vaccination. The virus is usually transmitted by ...
The disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the 19th century and one-third of all the blindness of that time was caused by smallpox. 20 to 60% of all the people that were infected died and 80% of all the children with the infection also died. It caused also many deaths in the 20th century, over 300–500 million.
Both Jynneos and ACAM2000 contain vaccinia virus that is closely related to, but less harmful than the viruses that cause smallpox and mpox. ACAM2000 uses a live, infectious form of the vaccinia ...