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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.
An 1802 cartoon of Edward Jenner's cowpox-derived smallpox vaccine. Diseases and epidemics of the 19th century included long-standing epidemic threats such as smallpox, typhus, yellow fever, and scarlet fever. In addition, cholera emerged as an epidemic threat and spread worldwide in six pandemics in the nineteenth century.
Epidemics and pandemics with at least 1 million deaths Rank Epidemics/pandemics Disease Death toll Percentage of population lost Years Location 1 1918 Flu: Influenza A/H1N1: 17–100 million 1–5.4% of global population [4] 1918–1920 Worldwide 2 Plague of Justinian: Bubonic plague 15–100 million 25–60% of European population [5] 541–549
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.
Most estimates coalesce around a fatality rate of about 10% (7.5 million people) of the total population of the empire with death rates of up to 15% in the cities and the army. If the pandemic was indeed smallpox, the number who died would have probably been about 25% of those infected as the survival rate from smallpox is often around 75%. [30 ...
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.
Smallpox epidemics led to blindness and depigmented scars. Many Native American tribes prided themselves in their appearance, and the resulting skin disfigurement of smallpox deeply affected them psychologically. Unable to cope with this condition, tribe members were said to have committed suicide. [104]
Indigenous victims (likely smallpox), Florentine Codex (compiled 1540–1585). The Cocoliztli Epidemic or the Great Pestilence [1] was an outbreak of a mysterious illness characterized by high fevers and bleeding which caused 5–15 million deaths in New Spain during the 16th century.