"Smallpox was a democratic scourge, afflicting people of every race, class, and social position: Cosmetics were invented to mask the ruined complexions of the rich. The disease killed royalty as well as commoners, disrupting dynasties and alliances and repeatedly changing the course of world history."
- Jonathan B. Tucker; Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox |
A Turning Point "What message do we send, to ourselves and to our posterity, by eradicating or preserving variola? What does this extermination represent; what does it say about our species, our self-perceptions, and our place within nature?
There is, first, a powerful positive symbolism in marking humanity's final victory over smallpox--- a triumphant culmination of the ancient battle, to be capped with a guarantee that the foe can never return. Nothing else could so vividly represent our complete success in this millennial battle against a horrific, disgusting scourge. Nothing else could so boldly convey the resolute unanimity and finality that the world has brought to this unprecedented question. As one Russian smallpox expert puts it, if the planet's epochal struggle against variola were to end without total eradication, "it would be as if a piece of music were to end before the final note was struck." And the WHO smallpox eradication campaign was one of our species' finest moments, uniting peoples of the world; allowing them to momentarily set aside their political, military, and economic battles; inspiring them to pool political will, inventiveness, technology, capital, and commitment to a common good. The event richly deserves to be celebrated, remembered, and symbolically preserved." - David Koplow; Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge |
The eradication program was slowly coming to an end in Asia as 1975 rolled. By this time, smallpox had been eradicated in all countries- or so officials thought. The day after WHO officials announced the eradication of variola major (November 14), a cable came in from Bhola Island, Bangladesh reporting a case of smallpox. Upon arrival, the team discovered 144 cases of smallpox on the island, the last being the 3-year-old patient Rahima Banu. Finally, after 2 months, in January 1976, variola major was finally eradicated.
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Above: D.A. Henderson talks about the last case of naturally occuring smallpox in the world (variola minor).
Ali Maow Maalin of Merca, Somalia was the last case of naturally occurring smallpox in the world. The twenty-three year old cook (also volunteered as an aide to the WHO workers) had been working with two infected patients when he contracted the disease. Oddly enough, he had never been vaccinated. He was quickly quarantined, all his associates were vaccinated, and he recovered fully. The standards of the WHO require a disease-free two year period to officially declare a country as smallpox-free. Hence, Dr. Frank Fenner, Chairman of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication, waited two years before declaring on May 8, 1980 that "Smallpox is dead!"
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The eradication of smallpox was a turning point in history because it was the worst infectious disease known to mankind, affecting every race, gender, class, and nationality, and with its eradication, it helped save hundreds of millions of lives. This was an enormous humanitarian triumph, for smallpox was the first disease to have been eradicated by the use of vaccination in medical history. It was one of the greatest medical achievements of the twentieth century. A virus that had plagued mankind for more than 3,000 years was finally eliminated.