Smallpox paragraph 2

Smallpox is a serious contagious and sometimes can be a very fatal infectious disease. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004), smallpox is a name derived from Latin word for 'spotted' which refers to raised bumps that appear on the face and body of an infected person. There are two clinical forms of smallpox namely Variola major and Variola minor. Variola major  is the severe and most common form of smallpox. its symptoms will be  more extensive rash and higher fever and has an overall fatality rate of about 30%. Variola minor is a less common form of smallpox and a much less severe disease with fatality rate of 1% or less. Smallpox was spread by inhaling virus particles from an infected person. The incubation period is between  7 and 17 days between infection and appearances of symptoms ((Jenkins 2009).

                                                   
Outbreaks of smallpox have been occurring from time to time for thousands of years (CDC 2004). In the 20t century alone, smallpox killed more than 300 million people but due to a successful worldwide vaccination program the disease was eradicated in society in 1980. The last naturally occurring case was in Somalia in 1977 (Connor 1993). Routine vaccination against smallpox among the general public was stopped because it was no longer necessary to prevent the disease. According to McKay (2011), there are only two countries that have  the smallpox samples in a frozen state, Russia and United States. However, some experts still allege that not all of the variola stocks have been accounted for.