How Did We Kill Smallpox?

Only two diseases in the world have ever been declared 'eradicated.' And of those two, only one affects humans. That disease is smallpox. Trace explains how the smallpox eradication effort worked, and how it might be applied to other illnesses people face all around the world.

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The Last Smallpox Patient on Earth
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/the-last-smallpox-patient-on-earth/282169/
"On December 9, 1979, the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication signed their names to the statement that "smallpox has been eradicated from the world."

When Americans Rejected Small Pox Vaccines
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2012/09/05/when-americans-rejected-small-pox-vaccines/
"When I lived in Ann Arbor, my children attended a public school where upwards of 15% of kids were not vaccinated for mumps because their left-wing parents didn't trust the vaccine industry."

Eradication Efforts: Malaria vs. Smallpox
http://www.uniteforsight.org/global-health-history/module4
"In testimony before Congress in 1969, Surgeon General William Stewart famously said that it was time for the United States "to close the book on infectious disease."

Why polio hasn't gone away yet
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/27/health/polio-eradication-efforts
"Two little girls in matching gingham jumpers -- Pam is crouching and pulling on her sister Patricia's leg brace -- appeared in a poster for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in the early 1950s. They'd both recovered from polio."

Polio and prevention
http://www.polioeradication.org/Polioandprevention.aspx
"Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure, but there are safe and effective vaccines. The strategy to eradicate polio is therefore based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until transmission stops and the world is polio-free."

Smallpox
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/smallpox/DS00424/DSECTION=symptoms
"The first symptoms of smallpox usually appear 12 to 14 days after you're infected..."

The Smallpox Eradication Programme - SEP (1966-1980)
http://www.who.int/features/2010/smallpox/en/
"2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox. Smallpox was officially declared eradicated in 1980 and is the first disease to have been fought on a global scale."

Smallpox Disease and Its Clinical Management
http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/training/overview/pdf/diseasemgmt.pdf

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