Smallpox Through History

Date	Smallpox Fact

10,000 bc	First smallpox outbreaks occur in settlements in the Nile Valley (northeastern Africa) and Mesopotamia (now eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Iraq).
3000 bc	Smallpox epidemics recorded in China and India.
1157 bc	Egyptian pharaoh Ramses V dies suddenly. His mummified remains bear pustules characteristic of smallpox disease.
490 bc	Smallpox appears in Athens, Greece.
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583	Smallpox documented in Korea.
585	Smallpox appears in Japan.
700 to 1000	Smallpox spreads to Europe and throughout Africa.
910	Persian physician Al-Razi publishes earliest complete work on smallpox entitled Treatise on Smallpox and Measles.
1518	First recorded outbreak of smallpox in the New World. Infected crewmembers from a Spanish ship land on the island of Hispaniola (now Dominican Republic and Haiti) and spread the disease, killing half of the native population of the island.
1520	Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés conquers the Aztec empire in what is now Mexico. Smallpox in one of Cortés's soldiers triggers an epidemic that kills one-third of the Aztec population.
1525	Inca emperor Huayna Capac dies of smallpox.
1534	King of Siam (now Thailand) dies of smallpox.
1562	Queen Elizabeth I of England survives smallpox infection.
1694	Queen Mary II of England dies of smallpox.
1700s	400,000 Europeans from all levels of society die yearly from smallpox. Variolation (deliberate infection with weakened smallpox virus to induce immunity) is introduced in Europe and North America, with mixed success. Full-blown smallpox develops in about 3 percent of cases.
1711	Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I dies of smallpox.
1730	Russian tsar Peter II dies of smallpox on the eve of his wedding.
1763	During the French and Indian War, British troops distribute smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans in the first documented case of biological warfare.
1774	French king Louis XV dies of smallpox.
1777	During the American Revolution, Continental army commander George Washington orders the variolation of all his troops in case the British employ smallpox as a weapon of war.
1789	Smallpox is introduced in Australia, where it decimates more than 50 percent of the Aboriginal population.
1796	British physician Edward Jenner injects boy with the first smallpox vaccination, made from cowpox virus. Cowpox virus creates natural immunity to smallpox while carrying none of the risk posed by variolation with actual smallpox virus.
1800s	Despite initial resistance, vaccination gradually gains acceptance and is practiced more widely in Europe, North America, and Asia, although epidemics continue to occur worldwide.
1801	President Thomas Jefferson initiates a program to vaccinate Native Americans.
1863	American president Abraham Lincoln is in the early stages of smallpox infection (which he survives) when he delivers the Gettysburg Address.
1948	The World Health Organization (WHO) is established to promote physical, mental, and social well-being worldwide.
1949	Last naturally occurring smallpox case reported in the United States.
1967	WHO launches worldwide vaccination campaign against smallpox, which causes more than 2 million deaths that year.
1977	Last naturally occurring case of smallpox worldwide occurs in Somalia.
1978	A fatal laboratory-acquired case of smallpox occurs in the United Kingdom.
1979	WHO declares that smallpox is eradicated worldwide.
1980s	All remaining stocks of the smallpox virus are destroyed or passed to one of two secure laboratories-one in the United States and one in Russia.
1999	After years of debate, the United States and Russia decide to postpone the destruction of remaining smallpox stock because the virus may be used in medically beneficial research.
2001	The terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City and sporadic anthrax outbreaks trigger fears that smallpox may be used as a biological weapon.