Smallpox and Its Eradication

This is an unparalleled comprehensive, detailed, and careful record of the greatest global public health achievement. The authors are renowned international authorities who were personally involved in the smallpox eradication program by serving in leadership roles on World Health Organization commissions and units and/or being active in field operations. Moreover, they sifted through published literature and the World Health Organization's pertinent archives to gather data for this book. They also engaged 78 other knowledgeable scientists and practitioners in the review of the program's various components. The result is a treasury of facts, figures, tables, charts, and photographs in support of a well-written text—which amounts to a great deal of learning for generations to come. Clinical and basic science foundations dealing with the relationship of the variola virus to other orthopoxviruses and vaccine development set the stage for a fair-handed treatment of historical-epidemiologic antecedents. Despite discouragement with programs for the eradication of yellow fever and malaria,