Is SmallPox?
In 1967 smallpox still affected and threatened 60% of the world’s population. It was in that year that the World Health Organisation launched an intensified plan to eradicate smallpox completely. This disease killed every fourth victim, scarred or blinded most survivors, and eluded any form of treatment. The last natural case occurred in Somalia in 1977. In 1978 a fatal laboratory-acquired case occurred in the United Kingdom. The global eradication of smallpox was certified, based on intense verification activities in countries, by a commission of eminent scientists in December 1979 and subsequently endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 1980 during the Thirty-Third World Health Assembly. The man who took the first step towards the eradication of smallpox was Edward Jenner – born on May 17, 1749, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, the son of the Rev. Stephen Jenner, vicar of Berkeley. He was orphaned at age 5 and went to live with his older brother. During his early school years, Edward d
