1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to This 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast where we one day 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: ship nugs of history straight to your brain through your earhole. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: Today is December nine. The day was December nine, nineteen 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: seventy nine. Members of the Global Commission for the Certification 7 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: of Smallpox Eradication signed a statement that declared that smallpox 8 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: have been eradicated worldwide and that the return of the 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: virus was unlikely. Smallpox, a disease caused by the Bariola virus, 10 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: has been around for at least three thousand years, though 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: its origin is unknown. The disease was fatal for about 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: three in every ten people who contracted it. People who 13 00:00:55,800 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: had smallpox got fevers, body aches, rashes, sores, and scabs, 14 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: and it was contagious spread through person to person contact 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: and saliva. At first, very elation was used to control 16 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: the spread of smallpox. Very elation was a method of 17 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: immunization where patients would be purposefully exposed to the material 18 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: from smallpox pustules so they developed symptoms of smallpox. These 19 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: patients would develop a mild form of the disease and 20 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: were less likely to die than those who contracted small 21 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: pox naturally, But in the seventeen nineties, English doctor Edward 22 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: Jenner realized that vaccination could prevent people from getting smallpox. 23 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: At first, cowpox was used to make the smallpox vaccine, 24 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: but in later years the vaccinia virus was used to 25 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: create the vaccine. By the twentieth century, the smallpox vaccine 26 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: had become widely available. Vaccination against smallpox became mandatory in 27 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: many places around the world, and cases of smallpox declined 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: at Smallpox remained one of the main causes of death 29 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: due to infectious disease. In the nineteen fifties, there were 30 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: around fifty million cases of the disease every year. When 31 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: eradication of the disease was discussed at the World Health 32 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: Assembly in nineteen fifty three, there was a little confidence 33 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,519 Speaker 1: that the effort would succeed, since attempts to eradicate other 34 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: diseases had failed, But Soviet epidemiologist Victor shodin Off was 35 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: convinced that freeze dried smallpox vaccines could be the answer 36 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: to an effective eradication program. World Health Organization member states 37 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: voted to start a global smallpox eradication campaign at the 38 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: World Health Assembly in nineteen fifty nine. Vaccination campaigns in 39 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: some countries were successful in eliminating the disease, but the 40 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: global campaign was hindered by lack of funds, lack of personnel, 41 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,839 Speaker 1: limited commitment from countries, and a shortage of vaccine donations. 42 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: Smallpox continued to kill thousands of people in other countries 43 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: like India, Indonesia, and countries in Sub Saharan Africa. So 44 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty seven, the World Health Organization launched the 45 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program, which provided technical assistance to countries 46 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: eradication campaigns. This program was more successful thanks to mass 47 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: vaccination campaigns, the establishment of a surveillance system to investigate cases, 48 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: and the development of the bifurcated needle. The last known 49 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: natural case of smallpox was in Somalia in nineteen seventy seven. 50 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: Hospital cook Ali Maomalin, who worked in the smallpox eradication 51 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: program in Somalia, was exposed to the disease while he 52 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: was in a vehicle with two children who had smallpox. 53 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: He recovered and later died of malaria. After Ali Maomalin's case, 54 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: a lab accident in England that caused a minor outbreak 55 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: triggered the last known instances of smallpox. Janet Parker was 56 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: the last person to i of smallpox in nineteen seventy eight. 57 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: On December nine, nineteen seventy nine, members of the Global 58 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: Commission for Certification of Smallpox Eradication certified that smallpox had 59 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: been eradicated, and in May of nineteen eighty, the World 60 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: Health Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Global Commission, 61 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: announced that worldwide eradication had been achieved and that only 62 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: people working with orthopox virus in research labs could use 63 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: the smallpox vaccination. After the disease was declared eradicated, the 64 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: stocks of the virus that remained were destroyed or sent 65 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: to one of two labs, the Centers for Disease Control 66 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: and Prevention in Atlanta and the State Research Center of 67 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR in Russia. Debate later arose over 68 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,799 Speaker 1: whether the remaining lab stocks of Aiola virus should be destroyed. 69 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: The World Health Organization recommended destroying it, but stocks of 70 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: the virus still exist. Smallpox is the only infectious disease 71 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: affecting humans that has been eradicated. I'm eve jeffco and 72 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 73 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. Have a hard time staying present as 74 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,840 Speaker 1: you mindlessly scroll through social media. Lucky for you, were 75 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: stuck in the past at t D i h C 76 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or if you are 77 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: so inclined, you can send us a message at this 78 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: day at i heart media dot com. Thanks for listening, 79 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: Mary History to all, and to all a good night. 80 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:45,559 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 81 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 82 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: favorite shows.