Smallpox disease is a serious, highly contagious, and often life-threatening infection marked by a rash of round pox (blisters) on the face, arms, and legs. It is caused by the Variola virus.
The last case of smallpox in the United States was in 1949. The last case in the world was in Somalia in 1977. Worldwide vaccine campaigns have wiped out smallpox everywhere. Since the disease no longer occurs naturally anywhere in the world, smallpox vaccination for the general public was stopped because it was no longer necessary. Today, smallpox virus is kept in two approved laboratories in the USA and Russia. Historically, people got smallpox by touching or breathing in the smallpox virus. This is called being exposed to smallpox. Not everybody who
The last case of smallpox in the United States was in 1949. The last case in the world was in Somalia in 1977. Worldwide vaccine campaigns have wiped out smallpox everywhere. Since the disease no longer occurs naturally anywhere in the world, smallpox vaccination for the general public was stopped because it was no longer necessary. Today, smallpox virus is kept in two approved laboratories in the USA and Russia. Historically, people got smallpox by touching or breathing in the smallpox virus. This is called being exposed to smallpox. Not everybody who