Introduction To Smallpox and Conclusion

Introduction Small pox is a disease that has plagued humanity for centuries, in nearly all parts of the world.
The earliest definitive cases of small pox can be traced back to evidence from Egyptian mummies that are around 3000 years old [1]. The disease has been a plague to many societies, with many historical documents from the pre classical and classical age describing patients with similar symptoms: a sudden breakout followed by a range of terrible symptoms, ending in most cases in death [2]. Small pox remained endemic in many areas of the old world for generations, even into modern times [1]. The disease easily spread wherever people took it, and stayed in those areas nearly for good. Small pox was even the unknown ally of colonists seeking to rid their newly found lands of the current inhabitants [2]. Starting with Cortes landing in 1519, the disease decimated the native populations of the New World who had no natural resistance to the foreign disease [2]. In the end, the disease helped wipe out most of the native population of the Americas and even Australia, leaving behind little evidence to their existence. Our exhibit will cover both the basics of small pox, including its course in the New World, how it affected the peoples of North, Central, and South America, along with its effects in Australia. So what is smallpox? Although it has many different types, the main strain of the virus is known as the Classical Type [1]. The course of this strain spreads notoriously fast in populations, and is very severe. The incubation period, or period of reproduction and growth inside the host, is about 7 to 19 days, most of the time falling between 10-14 days [1]. Five to six days before the onset of symptoms occur is known as the pre-eruptive stage, where the virus begins to become extremely active in reproduction and spreads throughout the body [1]. This is the calm before the storm. The end of the pre-eruptive stage is marked by the very sudden onset of severe symptoms, including the notorious rash [1]. From this point on, the symptoms grow
worse. The eruptive stage comes after the pre-eruptive stage, and is marked by painful headaches, a severe fever, and the spread of the notorious smallpox boils across the body [1]. By the seventh day of the eruptive stage, the boils begin to scab over and become rock hard pustules, which can crack open and become infected very easily [1]. Although some symptoms very, this strain of smallpox is marked by seemingly never-ending scabs, as seen in figure 1. At this stage, the individual is very weak, and susceptible to many dangers. With the opening of the scabs, the skin becomes an open door for other bacteria and viruses to get into the body [1]. The immune system is weak from fighting the virus, allowing those infected with smallpox to be vulnerable to catching other diseases with smallpox. The respiratory system is also vulnerable to infection, and often times these secondary infections are the causes of death for those infected with smallpox [2]. The exhibit will trace the course of smallpox throughout the New World and Australia roughly during the 1500s through the 1700s, the peak in colonial expansion in the New World. We will portray the physical and cultural changes that people undertook during the smallpox rampage, and we will present different historical articles and models to display the reaction by the native peoples of the Americas and Australia. We will show a map of the spread in each region, along with timelines to help people understand the speed of the disease. Each section will contain both physical evidence and replicas to help paint a picture of the native peoples plight. Each section of the exhibit will also give a small history lesson on each of the areas between 1500 and 1900, to help set the stage of the time period of the disease. The end of the exhibit will close the story of smallpox by giving a small history of its demise in the 1900s.
Conclusion By 1950, an estimated 50 million cases of small pox were diagnosed [3]. It continued to rage through the 20th century, but its time was limited. The World Health Organization had already set its mark on smallpox for eradication. Doctors used the process known as ring vaccination, where a person who contracted smallpox would be isolated and all nearby people would be vaccinated [3]. The WHO worked nonstop to squash out all outbreaks of the virus, along with eradicating all endemic strains. By 1975, smallpox only persisted in the Horn of Africa, where it would remain for 4 more years before doctors were confident in its eradication. On December 9, 1979, the World Health Organization declared the official eradication of naturally occurring smallpox [3]. This marked the end of a scourge of human kind that had persisted since prehistoric times. The Scourge of Smallpox in the New World highlights a key chapter in human history. Smallpox played an important role in the European conquest of the Americas and Australian, and it can be seen as Europes ally in conquest. The personal stories of tribal destruction will help people who view the exhibit understand the importance of the disease in our history, and how the world was able to stop a seemingly unbeatable scourge. We hope that viewers of the exhibit take away a greater understanding of a killer that had been stopped only decades ago.

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Introduction Small pox is a disease that has plagued humanity for centuries, in nearly all parts of the world.

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