But humanity only made the transition into that new world fairly recently. Smallpox eradication was a major part of that. Over the course of the 20th century, country after country fought it back.

The 9-month-old grandson fell ill. First, a fever. Then, a nasty rash. Alarmed doctors suspected smallpox but, instead, they soon discovered something even more bewildering: The first-known human ...

(Original Caption) Smallpox in an unvaccinated child. Is it finally time to eliminate the remaining stocks of variola (smallpox) virus for good? The World Health Assembly will discuss the current ...

Keren Landman, MD was a senior reporter covering public health, consumer health, and health misinformation at Vox. Keren is trained as a physician, researcher, and epidemiologist and has served as ...

Smallpox vaccines have been approved for monkeypox. But experts warn that many questions remain about the protection they provide and how to best administer them. Members of the Association of ...

Smallpox has been eradicated worldwide since 1980 and is not held in check by vaccines, contrary to posts suggesting the deadly virus may circulate again if vaccines become optional. The posts ...

Before the smallpox virus was destroyed in the early 1980s, many people received the smallpox vaccine. As a result, if you’re in your 40s or older, you likely have a permanent scar from an ...

Smallpox and chickenpox might seem similar. They both cause rashes and blisters. They both have “pox” in their names. But other than that, they’re completely different diseases. You really ...

By the time I read his pamphlet on smallpox inoculation, published in 1774, I was well beyond surprise. I knew, as many historians knew before me, that free and enslaved West Africans on both ...

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Smallpox is a viral, infectious disease that once terrorized us humans. It causes a significant skin rash and fever, and during the most rampant outbreaks in the 20th century, killed an estimated ...