Smallpox

Smallpox

The pox viruses are a disease producing family, including the severe contagious febrile illness (variola) commonly called smallpox. The disease involves a rash, characterized by small blisters and pustules, with an incubation period of about 12 days. There is no specific therapy for smallpox.Primarily one attempts to prevent bacterial infection and maintain a fluid balance. The vaccinia (cowpox) virus was purified and developed for inoculation to specifically prevent smallpox. Currently, these vaccinations are no longer used, for no smallpox cases have been found in the world in at least a decade. It is one of the few contagious diseases that science may have eradicated with strictly preventive measures. For this we thank the Lord!Individuals with immune deficiency, leukemia, or with a widespread skin rash,of course, should never be given the smallpox vaccination.The last naturally occurring case of smallpox (Variola minor) was diagnosed on 26 October 1977.After vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979.Smallpox is one of the two infectious diseases to have been eradicated, the other being rinderpest, which was declared eradicated in 2011.