Smallpox is a debilitating, occasionally fatal, and highly contagious disease. Before 1980, the disease killed 3 out of every 10 people infected, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Overall, smallpox caused the death of hundreds of millions of people before it was eradicated. Despite its devastating impact on the human population, smallpox is no longer considered a threat. This is thanks to a worldwide immunization effort that eradicated the disease in 1977.
Smallpox is the only disease known to mankind that has been completely eradicated.
Symptoms
Smallpox is caused by the smallpox virus. There are four different types of the virus. The symptoms they cause vary in severity. The virus is transmitted through the air in droplets of moisture scattered by sneezing, coughing, and speaking.
It can also be spread by touching things that an infected person has touched. However, it is not so common to get the virus this way. The incubation period for smallpox is usually 12 to 14 days. This means that a person may not show signs of infection for about two weeks.
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Once the incubation period is over, the infected person will have symptoms of fever, headache, back pain, abdominal pain, and a general feeling of being sick. Lesions also form on the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth.
A discrete and characteristic rash also appears. The rash first appears on the face, hands, forearms, mouth and throat before spreading to the trunk during the second week of illness. As the disease progresses, the rash becomes more pronounced and blisters develop. Eight to nine days later, the blisters disintegrate.
A person is contagious as long as the rash is present.
The global impact of smallpox
An estimated 300 million people worldwide died of smallpox in the 20th century. This is because smallpox has a fatality rate of about 30% in unvaccinated individuals. Historically, the virus was more dangerous for women who were pregnant or people who had immune disorders.
Although many of the people who contracted smallpox survived, they were not unharmed. The rashes left severe scars and some patients went blind from the disease.
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