3.6 | Smallpox Outbreaks
Cities in North America were notably affected by smallpox in the 18th
and 19th centuries. The disease manifested in deadly symptoms,
especially in youngsters. It could spread by many means (like droplets
and bodily fluids). The wealthy saw smallpox victims as ”guilty” for
their infection. This is because they were typically found among the
underprivileged. Smallpox transmitted by the virus variola was endemic
throughout Europe and Asia for millennia. The death rate was relatively
low when the virus first entered the World in the fifteenth century with
the very first European explorers. From 1520 onwards, smallpox claimed
the lives of 56 million people. Edward Jenner found in the 18th century
that those who had received immunization against a severe virus (cowpox)
seemed to be resistant to smallpox, making smallpox the first pandemic
in the world to be eradicated by a vaccine.