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Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus.
The history of smallpox extends into pre-history. [1] Genetic evidence suggests that the smallpox virus emerged 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. [2] Prior to that, similar ancestral viruses circulated, but possibly only in other mammals, and possibly with different symptoms.
The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to have been developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus.
Edward Jenner FRS FRCPE [1] (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. [2] [3] The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae ('pustules of the cow'), the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox.
Poxviridae is a family of double-stranded DNA viruses. Vertebrates and arthropods serve as natural hosts. There are currently 83 species in this family, divided among 22 genera, which are divided into two subfamilies. Diseases associated with this family include smallpox. [1] [2]
Smallpox had been an endemic human disease that had a 30% fatality rate. In 1796, the British doctor Edward Jenner proved that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus would also confer immunity to the deadly smallpox. Jenner referred to cowpox as variolae vaccinae (smallpox of the cow).
George Washington by Charles Willson Peale, 1776. The New World of the Western Hemisphere was devastated by the 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic. Estimates based on remnant settlements say at least 130,000 people were estimated to have died in the epidemic that started in 1775. [1]
