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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 is a highly contagious viral disease which can be transmitted through direct contact with a person that is already affected with smallpox. Touching clothing, bedding, dust, or any other objects that were previously touched by an infected person can result in transmission of the disease. [ 5 ]
The virus is spread by airborne salivae, like from a cough or saliva on a bed sheet, and can only be spread from human to human. The first stage of infection is the incubation period. The incubation period is the preliminary stage of infection where there is no knowledge of someone having smallpox, there are no physical manifestations of ...
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 was long supposed to be transmitted either by direct contact or by fomites. However A. R. Rao’s careful researches in the 1960s, before smallpox was declared extinct, found little truth in the traditional belief that smallpox can be spread at a distance through infected clothing or bedding.
The most common type of smallpox, ordinary, historically has devastated populations with a 30% death rate. The smallpox virus is transmittable through bodily fluids and materials contaminated with infected materials. Generally, face-to-face contact is required for an individual to contract smallpox as a result of an interaction with another human.
It comes from the same virus family as smallpox and can pass from person to person ... had at least one new diagnosis of a sexually transmitted infection in the past six months; they have more ...
Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, so few people born after that year are vaccinated against it. Now the vaccine is being used to protect people from monkeypox. Here's what to know.