8 Horrible Infectious Diseases Humanity Has Triumphed Over

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by a group of viruses, such as Variola major and Variola minor. Unfortunately, this infectious disease was responsible for increasing the infant mortality rate and according to experts at that time the risk of death after contract the virus was about 30%. The most common symptoms of this disease were fever, vomiting and sores all over the skin. 

Just like any other infectious disease, Smallpox was spread through direct contact between people and contaminated objects. People who were lucky enough to survive were left with severe scarring on their skin. 

However, in 1796, a British physician, Edward Jenner, found that people who suffered from cowpox when they were young weren’t prone to developing smallpox. Cowpox is also an infectious disease caused by a zoonotic virus, which means that it can be spread from animal to human. Thus, to test his hypothesis, Jenner injected an 8-year-old boy with cowpox and then exposed the child to smallpox. Fortunately, Jenner managed to create an effective vaccine against the smallpox disease. 

In 1959, the World Health Organization (WHO) planned to eradicate smallpox, so they distributed huge amounts of vaccines all over the world and in 1980 this disease was officially declared eradicated due to human intervention.