ERADICATION

In 1959, the Twelfth World Health Assembly committed to globally eradicating smallpox. By that time the disease was already eradicated in Europe and North and Central America, and, according to Fenner et al. (1988, 594), was manageable in South America. Therefore the WHO, which was responsible for overseeing the programs in individual countries, concentrated efforts on Brazil, the last country in South America with known cases, and in India, other parts of southern Asia, and Africa, the last of the endemic areas. The final endemic case of smallpox occurred in Somalia in 1977, followed by a fatal case in a research laboratory in 1978. Ultimately, through an aggressive worldwide program of containing cases and their contacts, and through vaccination, the WHO officially announced in 1980 the global eradication of smallpox, the first disease ever to be eradicated.

How is it that smallpox, a disease for which there is no cure, could be completely eliminated? Two key factors include the development of an effective vaccine and, equally important, the fact that there is no animal vector for variola virus – it infects only humans. Credit is also due to those involved in the campaign. Radetsky (1999) emphasizes that “ultimately success was achieved by the tireless zeal and determination of the indigenous and foreign workers.”

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