When Smallpox Was A Nightmare

Smallpox is an acute contagious and fatal disease caused by the variola virus and spread through direct contact with infected body fluids or contaminated objects such as bedding or clothing.

Humans are the only natural host of variola.

Smallpox originated thousands of years ago and killed about 60million people in the 18th century.

It killed 30 percent of people that caught it. Those who survived were often left blind, sterile and with deep pitted scars on the skin.

The last known natural cause occurred in Somalia in 1977.

The symptoms of smallpox are distinct

The first symptoms are usually high fever, malaise, head and body aches and sometimes vomiting.

Smallpox's signature symptom is the emergence of rashes that develop into sores.

These rashes become raised bumps that fills with thick opaque fluid that often has a depression in the center that looks like a belly button.

These bumps form crusts and scabs that fall off to leave pitted scars.

The infected person can spread the disease until all the scabs fall off.

Smallpox is the only disease that has been completely eradicated

Edward Jenner's experiment in 1796 formed the basis for the investigation that developed the smallpox vaccine - one of the greatest triumphs in modern medicine.

Today, smallpox has been eradicated except for laboratory stockpiles.