Smallpox Eradicated

May 8, 1980

Existing only as laboratory specimens, smallpox is certified by the World Health Assembly as obsolete. This was the first time a disease was eradicated by man. The last known case was in Birmingham, England (1978), when the virus escaped from a research lab. The researcher who accidentally let it escape committed suicide. It is estimated that smallpox killed 300-500 million people in the 20th century. It was eradicated by a massive vaccination and containment program. The eradication was aided by the facts that humans are the only reservoir for smallpox infection, and that asymptomatic carriers did not exist.