Smallpox has been one of the most dangerous and deadly curses’ ever placed on humankind. Even illnesses as terrible as the plague, cholera, and yellow fever have not had such a universal effect. Smallpox is a parasitic virus (a virus destructive to the host) called variola. It’s considered to be a “crowd disease”, spreading only through people and requiring a large densely populated area to survive. If the virus is cut off from new host bodies it dies out.
Smallpox is spread by what is called “droplet infection.” “Droplets” refers to body fluid that escapes into the open air such as moisture does when you sneeze. The smallpox virus also remains active on a human corpse for up to three weeks and can be passed through the dead host to the living host that way and also through items such as blankets and clothing, which remain infected for up to one year.
Patients affected with smallpox will generally begin to show symptoms 9-12 days after exposure. These symptoms begin with depression, fever, rigors, vomiting, headache, and backache. In several cases patients have become disoriented and/or delirious. In other cases a distinct rash will begin to form on face, hands and legs in this phase. All others with begin to notice the rash within a few days. Following the outbreak of the rash on the face, it begins to spread to the chest. Cuts that have formed on face and body begin to turn into blisters and eventually into scabs during the healing process. The virus may attack the eyes, lungs, throat, heart and/or liver and lead to death.
The first recorded smallpox outbreak occurred in 1350 BC during the Egyptian-Hittite war. The illness was passed from Egyptian prisoners to the Hittite population affecting both soldiers and civilians. Although it wasn’t until the late 1600’s that people in Europe and Asia accidentally discovered that those infected with smallpox through a scratch on the skin, suffered from a less severe form of the disease than those who contracted it through the respiratory tract. In the early 1700’s doctors began to store samples of smallpox pus and scabs in jars. If an outbreak occurred the doctor would make a small cut in a person’s arm and smeared the pus into the wound. This process of intentionally infecting a person with the smallpox virus in order to make them immune to the disease in the future was called inoculation.
In closing, the variola virus affected a great amount in that era including, military strategy, trade, and native populations. Elizabeth A. Fenn’s book Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 sheds light on a significant aspect of that era that had not been given proper credence beforehand. She also illuminated the effect of smallpox when it came to race and social status. With regard to race, smallpox decimated much of the non European populations partly because of their lack of an innate immunity to that virus and Europeans lack of regard for those of a different race. Fenn’s argument on social status showed how the poorer strata’s of society suffered more severely from the variola virus because of their lack of finances to get inoculated; thus, the poor often suffered a worse strain of the virus which often lead to death.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century a disease dominated the world killing one in three people who caught it, smallpox. The few that survived the disease were left with very disfigured bodies and weak immune systems. In modern days this disease seems very unusual and hard to catch; it is all because of one man, Edward Jenner.
The World Health Organization announced that smallpox had been eradicated from the planet on May 8, 1980. This was prompted by a three year absence of a smallpox infection; the last occurring case was reported in Somalia in 1977. Since then, worldwide stock of smallpox vaccines has been reduced enormously simply because of speculation that there is no need for it anymore and administering the vaccine is impertinent. After the disappearance of smallpox as an afflicting disease, it now exists in labs in only two locations, the United States and Russia, where it is studied for research purposes only. Smallpox is a virus that has two major forms, Variola major and Variola minor, and each form has similar and differentiating symptoms with regards to the other type (Alibek, 1999).
In order to understand the history of smallpox one first has to understand how diseases like it evolve. Much like other species, diseases that survive in the long run are the microbes that most effectively reproduce and are able to find suitable places to live. For a microbe to effectively reproduce, it must "be defined mathematically as the number of new infected per each original patient." This number will largely depend on how long each victim is able to spread the virus to other victims (Diamond, 198).
Smallpox has been believed to be a prominent killer for thousands of years. Before 900 AD smallpox and measles were easily interchangeable to many physicians. These two diseases possessed similar symptoms, such as fevers and rashes, making it very difficult to distinguish between them. It was not until the Persian physician, Rhazes Ar-Raz Abmiz, that measles and smallpox were able to be clinically distinguished in 900 AD. Much later in 1751, Thomas Sydenham found further differentiating characteristics between the two diseases(Aufderheide, 202). Through the years, with its many outbreaks in varying areas across the planet, smallpox claimed millions of victims. Many rulers and soldiers were killed by this incredibly infectious disease. To prevent and hopefully stop the increasing numbers of deaths due to smallpox, many physicians slaved away to invent and find a cure for this disease. The first effective method of prevention was called variolation. Variolation was later modified and improved with vaccinations(Hopkins, 15). Today wild smallpox is no longer a risk. The last natural case of smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977. While the last reported death due to smallpox was reported to be a year later in the UK(McNeil, 165). Smallpox is not completely out of the picture. After the 2001 attacks with anthrax, a strong paranoia of smallpox being used as another possible mean of bioterrorism has arisen(Oldstone, 32).
From 166 A.D. to 180 A.D., The Antonine Plague spread around Europe devastating many countries. This epidemic killed thousands per day and is also known as the modern-day name Smallpox. It is known as one of deadliest plagues around the world.
It began with infection mainly in the blood vessels of the human skin and mouth, resulting in different kinds of symptoms that turn into serious stages. It was spread by physical contact with human skin and mostly affected children and adults. This disease was so outrageous that it led to a vast number of deaths in New England colonies. Also, smallpox virus is transmitted through airborne infection from the oral, nasal mucus of the infected person. But mostly was spread from close contact or contaminated material of the infected person.
Smallpox is a highly infectious and fatal disease caused by the Variola virus. It causes extremely painful pustules to sprout across the entire body. Spread from human to human, it has since been eradicated from the world through the efforts of the World Health Organization. However, there is a distinct possibility that it may be reintroduced through bioterrorism. Biological weapons may cause another pandemic to erupt across the world and kill millions of individuals. Through constant vigilance and careful planning, mankind can prevent this scenario.
Although the Columbian Exchange allowed for the beneficial exchange of cultures, ideas, foods, and animals around the world during the 1450-1750 time period, it also had a dark side. One detrimental result of the Columbian Exchange would be the spreading of smallpox from Europe to the New World.
During one of his earlier apprenticeships, Jenner noticed milkmaids with a disease called cowpox. Cowpox is a close relative to smallpox and is only mild in humans. Pustules appear on the hands and a basic cold is also brought on. At Jenner’s young age he was able to link these two viruses together and come up with a theory for immunization. In 1796, while still attending medical school, Jenner decided to test this theory between smallpox and cowpox. He used a dairymaid, who was a patient of his named Sarah Nelms, who had contracted cowpox and had ripe pustules on her hands. Jenner realized this was his opportunity to test someone who had not contracted smallpox yet. He picked an eight-year old boy named James Phipps to use as his test subject. He scraped open a spot of James' arm and rubbed in a dissected piece of Sarah Nelms pustule into the open wound. A couple days later James became ill with cowpox but was well again within a week. This test proved that cowpox could be spread between humans as well as cows. Jenner's next test would be if the cowpox virus gave James immunity against smallpox. On July 1st of 1796, Edward Jenner obtained an infected smallpox pustule and scratched the virus filled pus into James' arm. This technique of placing a virus into a patient is called variolation. James Phipps did not develop smallpox within the
Until its eradication, smallpox was a disease that had been ravaging the human race for a very long time. It emerged as much as 10,000 years ago, probably in the Nile Valley and what is now the Middle East. This emergence occurred around the time that humans began to create farming communities and turn away from nomadic existence, thus allowing the smallpox virus a chance to move from person to person (Ogden 2). Since that time, outbreaks have occurred in all different regions of the globe, although the disease was not introduced into the New World until 1518 when a Spanish ship landed on the island of Hispaniola, thus wiping out half of the population. The Spanish sailors had previously been infected by a strain of the smallpox virus and were therefore immune. The natives, however, had never been exposed to the virus and their bodies were unable to fight it off at all. It is thought that as much as 90 percent of the native populations of the New World were killed by smallpox in conjunction with the other previously unseen diseases that were brought over by explorers (Ogden 3).
Anthrax is a very real and dangerous threat to all people who come in contact with it. The bacterial infection is caused by the bacteriaium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax is divided into three categories all are contracted in different ways. The first type is called Cutaneous Anthrax; this is where anthrax spores make contact with the skin. If there is a cut or a lesion then a person can be infected. Cutaneous Anthrax is the most common way to get anthrax, but is also the least lethal. The second type of anthrax is called Pulmonary Anthrax this is where a person inhales the spores of anthrax directly into the lungs. If this type of anthrax is left untreated it could lead to death. The third type of anthrax is called Gastrointestinal Anthrax, this form results from eating meat from animals that have been infected with the anthrax bacteria. This causes the intestinal tract to become infected and this from is almost always fatal. This particular mode of anthrax has never been seen in the United States.
Measles Measles is a highly contagious disease. It is caused by an RNA virus that changes constantly. Measles symptoms usually include a bad cough, sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, sensitivity to light, and a very high fever. Red patches with white grain like centers appear along the gum line in the mouth two to four days after the first symptoms show. These patches are called Koplik spots because Henry Koplick first noticed them in 1896.
While sitting around your house, watching television, you notice that you have been scratching your arm and in between your fingers for a little while. After taking a closer look you notice something that you assume is a rash and just ignore it. The next day however you notice that the rash has spread and that you think you see burrows in your skin. Then it hits you, the weekend that you spent away on vacation in that not so expensive hotel to save a couple of dollars has now cost you more money in the long run. You must go see your doctor to be treated for scabies!
According to the CDC, Center for Disease Control, during the first 48 hours symptoms like fever, headache, drowsiness, and could be apparent before the rash. The red, burning, itchy dots could appear all of the body including the arms, legs, head, chest, belly, and inside genitals. Blisters that are filled with clear fluid and ulcers can develop from the sores. The sores and blisters will eventually dry up and turn into scabs. The amount of spots on a person can differ per case; some have extreme amounts of blisters all of their bodies, while others barely have blisters. Warm conditions tend to irritate the rash more. The disease is easy to recognize because its main sign is rash. It is rare to get a lab for diagnosis for chicken pox although the varciella zoster virus can be diagnosed by a blood test that detects the antibodies for the