Learning from smallpox: How to eradicate a disease - Julie Garon and Walter A. Orenstein

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/learning-from-smallpox-how-to-eradicate-a-disease-julie-garon-and-walter-a-orenstein For most of human history, we have sought to treat and cure...

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For most of human history,medical workers sought to treat diseases or cure them.The rise of vaccination in the 19th centuryenhanced the potential to prevent peoplefrom contracting illnesses in the first place.But only in recent decades did it become possibleto ensure that a particular disease never threatens humanity again.The story of smallpox,the first and, so far, the only diseaseto be permanently eradicated from the world,shows how disease eradication can happen and why it is so difficult to achieve.Smallpox emerged in human populations thousands of years agoas a contagious virus that spread rapidly,primarily through close, face to face contact,causing fever, aches and rashes.It killed up to 30% of its victimsand often left survivors with life-long disfiguring s...