When was the last smallpox outbreak?
Smallpox
The last cases of smallpox in the world occurred in an outbreak of two cases (one of which was fatal) in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 1978.[94] A medical photographer, Janet Parker, contracted the disease at the University of Birmingham Medical School and died on 11 September 1978. Professor Henry Bedson, the scientist responsible for smallpox research at the university, killed himself.[94][95] All known stocks of smallpox were subsequently destroyed or transferred to two WHO-designated reference laboratories with BSL-4 facilities– the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Russia's State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR.[96]
Donald Henderson
The USAID initiative provided an important impetus to a World Health Organization (WHO) program to eradicate smallpox throughout the world within a 10-year period. In 1966, Henderson moved to Geneva to become director of the campaign. At that time, smallpox was occurring widely throughout Brazil and in 30 countries in Africa and South Asia. More than 10 million cases and 2 million deaths were occurring annually. Vaccination brought some control, but the key strategy was "surveillance-containment". This technique entailed rapid reporting of cases from all health units and prompt vaccination of household members and close contacts of confirmed cases. WHO staff and advisors from some 73 countries worked closely with national staff. The last case occurred in Somalia on October 26, 1977, only 10 years after the program began. Three years later, the World Health Assembly recommended that smallpox vaccination could cease. Smallpox is the first human disease ever to be eradicated. This success gave impetus to WHO’s global Expanded Program on Immunization, which targeted other vaccine-preventable diseases, including poliomyelitis, measles, tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough. Now targeted for eradication are poliomyelitis and Guinea Worm disease; after 25 years, this objective is close to being achieved.