The origin of the smallpox disease is unknown. It is thought to date back to the Egyptian Empire around the 3rd century BC. This assumption was made based on a smallpox-like rash found on three mummies. The earliest findings of any disease that clearly resembled the smallpox disease emerged in the 4th century in China. Early written narratives of the smallpox disease also appeared in India in the 7th century and in Asia Minor in the 10th century (ACIP 2003). The Smallpox disease, which was caused by the variola virus, was a highly contagious infectious disease that caused those individuals who were infected to develop high fevers and a progressive, disfiguring skin rash. Researchers reported that three of out ten individuals infected with
