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Article: Smallpox
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SMALLPOX
Epidemic smallpox was one of the deadliest scourges ever to afflict humankind. It killed ancient Egyptian Pharoahs, villagers in teeming Asian villages, aristocrats in Paris and St. Petersburgh, and children in colonial New England. It contributed substantially to the collapse of the Aztec empire in Mexico, where it was introduced by the Spanish conquistadors. It was an ever-present threat, always lurking, occasionally breaking out in large epidemics. Smallpox occurred in two forms, variola major and variola minor. Variola major was the fulminant, often epidemic, variety, with a mortality rate of 40 percent or more and severe complications among survivors. Variola minor was ...