Smallpox is a disease that has erdicated by vaccination globally . How do you think this happened?
Answers
Explanation:This week Kriti from Microbe Matters and I are teaming up to cover Smallpox because of a paper published on May 1st regarding what to do with the remaining smallpox stockpiles. I will be focusing on the background and history of the virus, while Kriti will discuss the differing viewpoints on the preservation of the smallpox samples.
Smallpox is unique in that it's the only infectious disease to have ever been eradicated. The disease is caused by the variola virus, which is closely related to the cowpox virus. Smallpox has been recorded in the human population for over 3,000 years. To put that in perspective the city of Rome was founded just shy of 3,000 years ago in 753 BC. The last natural case of smallpox occurred in Somalia in 1977, and since then there have only ever been accidental exposures to smallpox in a laboratory setting.
Answer:
Explanation:The process of eradicating smallpox was long and complicated, requiring the coordinated efforts of people around the globe. Not every disease can be eradicated; it just so happened that smallpox has many characteristics that lend ease to eradication. The incubation period, the time between initial infection and visible symptoms, is relatively short, which prevents the disease from spreading undetected. The symptoms are also very distinctive, allowing for easy identification of smallpox patients. The World Health Organization put in place a "ring vaccination" method whereby vaccines weren't given only to infected people, but also to anyone who may have been exposed to an infected person. "Ring vaccination" effectively hindered the mass spread of smallpox since officials were able to isolate and treat affected areas early. In remote areas, World Health Organization workers tracked down infected persons by showing locals pictures of people with smallpox symptoms and asking if they had seen anyone with them.
Luckily for humans, smallpox only infects us. The lack of of an animal reservoir really aided in eradicating the disease. A large number of diseases affecting humans can be caught and transmitted by other species. For example, Dengue Fever is spread by infected
mosquitoes, while the Black Plague was spread by fleas on rats. Even if all humans were somehow vaccinated against Dengue Fever, the virus would still not be eradicated since it would still survive in the mosquito population. Since smallpox only infects us, once the human population was vaccinated the virus was wiped out.