Thesis
Smallpox was one of the most devastating diseases known to mankind. Over the course of human history, smallpox has claimed hundreds of millions of lives, leading to the fall of civilizations. Also known as the speckled monster, the disease left its victims greatly disfigured, partially/completely blind, or dead. The discovery of vaccination by Edward Jenner in 1796 provided a safer, more effective method of prevention against smallpox compared to inoculation. Smallpox was officially eradicated on May 8, 1980 with the help of World Health Organization's successful eradication program. Smallpox is the only disease that has been eradicated using vaccination.
"Smallpox has played a pivotal role in every era of human history. No disease has been so greatly feared or worshipped--- no disease has killed so many hundreds of millions of people nor so frequently altered the course of history itself." - D.A Henderson, MD; Smallpox: The Death of a Disease |
"On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that humanity had finally been freed from the torments of smallpox, the culmination of a global campaign lasting more than a decade and employing up to 150,000 health workers at various times. The conquest of smallpox, the first---and so far, only---infectious disease to have been eradicated from nature by human effort, was among the greatest medical achievements of the twentieth century."
- Jonathan B. Tucker; Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox |
D.A. Henderson talks about why smallpox should be eradicated.
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"For the virus, the great pestilence represented a phenomenal success: It found countless new hosts, it multiplied rapidly, and it traveled vast distances. But in its wake it left death and despair, killing more than a hundred thousand people and maiming many more. With no respect for boundaries of race, class, or nationality, the opportunistic microbe swept an astonishing array of people and events into its maelstrom: missionaries, mariners, fur traders, explorers, planters, fishermen, hunters, farmers, homemakers, warriors, neophytes, trappers, soldiers, prisoners, and runaway slaves. By the time the pestilence was over, it had reshaped human destinies across the continent."
- Elizabeth A. Fenn; Pox Americana |