Smallpox Eradicated
1979 - Institutional Event
The eradication of smallpox is one of the great success
stories of modern medicine. During the 18th century, this highly
contagious viral disease killed an estimated 60 million Europeans, including
five reigning monarchs. Up to 30 percent of those infected, including 80
percent of the children under five years old, died from the disease. A third of
the survivors became blind.
Even in the 20th century, smallpox caused 300 to 500
million deaths worldwide. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization
(WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and two million
died of it that year.
Nearly two centuries of inoculation programs finally won the
war against this global killer. In 1979, WHO certified the worldwide
eradication of smallpox. To date, it is the only human infectious disease to
have been completely eliminated from nature.
Information provided by BCBSNC.
Through a combination of quarantines and vaccination, smallpox was eradicated worldwide by 1979. Photo courtesy of the World Health Organization.