Knowra Smallpox Smallpox Smallpox was a severe infectious disease caused by variola virus, marked by fever and a characteristic pustular rash. It was eradicated worldwide through vaccination in 1980.
Variola virus : The orthopoxvirus species that causes smallpox in humans. This virus causes the infection and determines its clinical course.
Smallpox in antiquity : Evidence and historical accounts used to investigate smallpox’s presence in ancient societies. Mummies and written descriptions have been examined for clues to the disease’s earliest history.
Ring vaccination : A strategy that vaccinates contacts and contacts of contacts around each detected case to contain an outbreak. This targeted approach helped stop smallpox transmission without vaccinating entire populations.
Chickenpox : A contagious disease caused by varicella-zoster virus, usually producing an itchy blister-like rash. Its name and rash resemble smallpox, but it is caused by a different virus and is generally milder.
Orthopoxvirus : A genus of large DNA viruses that infect vertebrates, including variola, vaccinia, and monkeypox viruses. Variola belongs to this genus, whose relatives inform smallpox biology and prevention.
Smallpox in medieval Europe : The history of smallpox outbreaks and mortality in Europe during the medieval period. Medieval epidemics show how the disease became entrenched in European societies.
Surveillance and containment : An outbreak-control strategy combining case detection, isolation, contact tracing, and targeted interventions. Finding cases and containing their contacts became central to the eradication campaign.
Mpox : A viral disease caused by monkeypox virus, an orthopoxvirus related to variola virus. Mpox shares viral ancestry and some symptoms with smallpox but is a distinct disease.
Smallpox transmission : The spread of variola virus, chiefly through close contact with infectious respiratory droplets or contaminated materials. Transmission patterns shaped outbreaks and the containment strategies used to stop them.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu : An English writer who promoted Ottoman variolation practices in Britain in the early eighteenth century. Her advocacy helped bring variolation to wider attention in Britain.
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