Smallpox Eradication: African Origin, African Solutions, and Relevance for COVID-19

2020 marks 40 years since the World Health Assembly accepted the 1979 conclusion of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication that the dread disease had been eradicated. It is fitting to reflect on the history and conduct of the eradication program, focusing on Africa. Not...

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Published inThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 104; no. 2; pp. 416 - 421
Main Author Breman, Joel G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Institute of Tropical Medicine 18.01.2021
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Subjects
Africa
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 - prevention & control
COVID-19 Vaccines
Disease Eradication - history
Global Health
History, 15th Century
History, 16th Century
History, 17th Century
History, 18th Century
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
History, Ancient
History, Medieval
Humans
Mummies
Presidential Address
SARS-CoV-2
Smallpox
Smallpox - history
Smallpox - pathology
Smallpox - prevention & control
Smallpox Vaccine - history
Africa
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Summary:2020 marks 40 years since the World Health Assembly accepted the 1979 conclusion of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication that the dread disease had been eradicated. It is fitting to reflect on the history and conduct of the eradication program, focusing on Africa. Not only is Africa where the first and last cases of the disease were recorded, but where some of the unique control and eradication strategies and tactics were discovered and deployed. The control of the COVID-19 pandemic will be dependent on many of the principles and practices used in smallpox eradication, another reason to examine the past.
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Editor's Note: The ASTMH 2020 President's Address can be viewed online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr1VhsDXQMA&t=3s. Slides for Dr. Breman's President's Address can be found online at https://www.slideshare.net/secret/kuBxK6iHO5Q5Qz.
Presidential address given at the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting, of the ASTMH, November 18, 2020.
Author’s address: Joel G. Breman, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, E-mail: joel.breman@nih.gov.
ISSN:0002-9637
1476-1645
1476-1645
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.20-1557