When was variola discovered

Despite talk about the possibility of terrorists spreading smallpox as a biological weapon, the reality is that this probably wouldn't happen for a couple of reasons.

First, terrorists would need access to the virus samples, and the few research laboratories that keep them have security measures to guard them. Also, it would be extremely difficult for a group to take the time to produce a large amount of the variola virus without being detected. After the September 11, , terrorist attacks and the anthrax scare that same year, the U. Today, there's enough vaccine on hand to protect the American people in the event of a smallpox outbreak.

Public health officials have a rapid response plan ready to vaccinate anyone exposed to the disease, as well as people who come into contact with them. So although a person doesn't need to get vaccinated at the moment, the vaccine is there in case it's needed.

Because the vaccine can stop the spread of the disease, experts believe it's unlikely that terrorists will go to the trouble of producing and using smallpox as a biological weapon — it would take too long and have little effect.

If someone becomes infected with smallpox, it may take anywhere from 7 to 17 days for symptoms to develop. Benjamin Franklin , who lost a son to smallpox, was another early American supporter. Variolation notwithstanding, smallpox continued wreaking havoc on princes and paupers alike. Queen Elizabeth I of England and U. President Abraham Lincoln also apparently contracted smallpox during their time in office, though they fortuitously lived to tell the tale. Meanwhile, in Europe alone, an estimated , commoners were succumbing to smallpox annually.

By inserting pus from a milkmaid with cowpox, a disease closely related to smallpox, into the arms of a healthy 8-year-old boy and then variolating him to no effect, Jenner was able to conclude that a person could be protected from smallpox without having to be directly exposed to it. A free smallpox vaccination clinic in France, circa Persisting anyway, his vaccine gradually started catching on.

The advantages over variolation were many. Unlike a variolated person, a vaccinated person could not spread smallpox to others. Moreover, the vaccine seldom left a rash and proved fatal in only the rarest of circumstances.

President Thomas Jefferson wrote to Jenner in The following year, Bavaria declared vaccination mandatory, and Denmark did the same in Spread through direct contact with infected people, body fluids, or contaminated objects such as bedding, the disease had two main types. Variola major was the most common form—and most lethal. Variola minor produced a milder disease, which was fatal in less than one percent of cases. Two other, rarer forms also existed: hemorrhagic and malignant.

Both invariably resulted in death. Smallpox is thought to have originated in India or Egypt at least 3, years ago. His mummified remains show telltale pockmarks on his skin. The disease later spread along trade routes in Asia, Africa, and Europe, eventually reaching the Americas in the s. Indigenous peoples there had no natural immunity. An estimated 90 percent of indigenous casualties during European colonization were caused by disease rather than military conquest.

Smallpox contributed to the decline of the Aztec Empire , in what is now Mexico, following the virus's arrival with Spanish conquerors in More than three million Aztec succumbed to the disease. Severely weakened, the Aztec were easily defeated. Likewise, smallpox claimed the life of an Inca emperor and wiped out much of the Inca population in western South America.

In Europe, smallpox is estimated to have claimed 60 million lives in the 18th century alone. In the 20th century, it killed some million people globally. The human fight against smallpox dates back some 2, years. In Asia, a technique known as variolation involved deliberately infecting a person by blowing dried smallpox scabs up their nose. Smallpox was spread by close contact with the sores or respiratory droplets of an infected person.

Contaminated bedding or clothing could also spread the disease. A patient remained infectious until the last scab separated from the skin. Smallpox plagued human populations for thousands of years. Researchers who examined the mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses V died BCE observed scarring similar to that from smallpox on his remains. Ancient Sanskrit medical texts, dating from about BCE, describe a smallpox-like illness.

Smallpox was likely present in Europe by about CE. Some estimates indicate that 20th-century worldwide deaths from smallpox numbered more than million.