Eradication:

Jenner had first proposed the idea of worldwide eradication of smallpox by vaccination in 1801.
In 1950, the World Health Organization proposed a programme to eradicate smallpox from the Americas. This was acheived in 8 years.
In 1958, the W.H.O. proposed a worldwide eradication campaign, but this did not really get under way until 1965.
Between 200 and 300 million doses of a standardized vaccine were produced and administered annually.

Smallpox vaccination was greatly helped by the development of the "bifurcated needle" in 1968, making administration of the vaccine simpler and more effective.

Even in the best organized campaigns, it was not possible to vaccinate 100% of the population, so a new strategy was adopted in addition to blanket vaccination campaigns - early detection and vigorous containment of outbreaks. This proved to be highly effective.

The last naturally occurring case of smallpox occurred on 26th October, 1977.

On 9th December 1979, the W.H.O. officially declared smallpox to be completely eradicated

So now I understand. Vaccinia virus is really cowpox virus, and this gives protection against infection with smallpox. Right?

© AJC 1997.