http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm79sp.html
World Health Organization declares smallpox eradicated 1980 Photo: Poster published by World Health Organization at Geneva, Switzerland, after declaration of eradiction of smallpox on earth, May 8, 1980. AP/Wide World Photos One of the twentieth century's greatest victories in medicine began in 1796. That year Edward Jenner discovered vaccination. It was known that if a person had smallpox and survived, he or she would not get the disease again. Sometimes people tried to innoculate themselves against smallpox by purposefully contracting a mild case. But Jenner found that if he gave a person serum from a cow (vacca in Latin) that had cowpox, a virus similar to smallpox, then that person was protected from smallpox without having to be exposed to the disease itself. Jenner immediately envisioned the vaccine erasing smallpox from the earth. But it would take another 150 years. At the turn of the twentieth century, smallpox was still a dangerous disease worldwide. In spite of the proven effectiveness of Jenner's vaccine, other methods of treatment and protection were tried. An especially popular one was treating the disease with red objects and light. This therapy dated back to tenth century Japan and was still in use in the United States in the early twentieth century and in Europe through World War I. The smallpox vaccine did spread, but slowly. It was initially in short supply and hard to store, especially in hot climates. In the 1920s, French and Dutch researchers developed a dried vaccine for use in their colonies. It was hardier, but the quality was inconsistent. A virulent outbreak of smallpox in New York City in 1947 surprised everyone and inspired a new method to improve the vaccine. Freeze-drying was used successfully in 1949 and brought into commercial production by 1954. Freeze-dried vaccine could last for months, even without refrigeration in tropical climates. Some localized areas and even some nations had gotten rid of smallpox entirely, but a plan for global eradication was slow to take hold. In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) took over the health functions of the League of Nations, at a time when smallpox was still a threat in at least 90 countries. In 1958, WHO adopted a resolution put forth by the Soviet Union to attempt global eradication, but nothing much happened. Finally in 1966, a resolution sponsored by several countries -- including the United States and Soviet Union -- was adopted, and a specific goal set for wiping out smallpox within ten years. There were then 44 countries still reporting the disease. The Smallpox Eradication Program (SEP) started by tackling some of the poorest countries, determined to score a psychological victory by showing smallpox could be eliminated even where health services were scant. This worked, and led to a major discovery: the disease could be removed without vaccinating every single person. Improved technology (needles that were easier to clean and use, for example) also made delivering the vaccine more efficient. Wars and political uprisings slowed progress, but year after year, new countries announced they had seen their last case of smallpox. The last naturally-occurring case of smallpox in the world was contracted in October, 1977 by a young man in Merka Town, Somalia. He survived, and no new cases were reported in Somalia or elsewhere. But ironically, in 1978 two more cases popped up in Birmingham, England, from smallpox virus escaped from a research lab. One of the patients died. The director of the laboratory committed suicide. These were smallpox's last victims. In 1979, a global commission certified that smallpox had been eradicated, and this certification was officially accepted by the 33rd World Health Assembly in 1980. -----Original Message----- From: Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 10:11 AM To: 'Bruce Tefft' Subject: RE: Four cases of smallpox in Brazil I thought smallpox was eradicated??? So confused..... -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Tefft [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 09:46 To: Bruce Tefft Subject: Four cases of smallpox in Brazil http://internacional.radiobras.gov.br/ingles/materia_i_2004.php?materia=2333 46&q=1&editoria Health Inspection rules out risk of smallpox epidemic in the country 14:14 Rosamélia de Abreu Reporter - Agência Brasil Brasília - Brazil is not running the risk of a smallpox epidemic, according to Jarbas Barbosa, secretary of Health Inspection in the Ministry of Health. ===> Four cases were reported recently in the states of ===> Santa Catarina and São Paulo. According to the secretary, ===> the disease was transmitted by a Brazilian surfer, who ===> caught smallpox in the Maldive Islands, in Asia. Barbosa informed that smallpox vaccine coverage in Brazil is high, which eliminates the risk of an epidemic. "If we take preventive actions immediately, such as vaccinating everyone who had contact with the surfer, there is no risk of an epidemic. We have good vaccine coverage in Brazil, and every five years we vaccinate all children five years old or under," he affirms. Barbosa guaranteed that the smallpox vaccine is effective and secure and is provided free to the population at health posts. In 1997 Brazil suffered a smallpox epidemic involving over 60 thousand cases and 53 deaths. Health officials took four months to detect the disease, which was introduced by Italian tourists, and a year and a half to control the epidemic, the secretary of Health Inspection informs. Since 2000 there have been no cases of transmission in Brazilian territory, but, since smallpox epidemics still exist in every continent except the Americas, it is important to continue surveillance and vaccination campaigns, since there is always the possibility of a foreign tourist or immigrant arriving in the country with the infection. Translation: David Silberstein 25/07/2005 ------ © Agencia Brasil - All material may be reproduced as long as the source is acknowledged -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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