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Smallpox was a significant shaper of life histories for indigenous South African peoples during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was responsible for the demise of entire social structures and even entire communities of peoples. Survival of smallpox affords the individual natural immunity for the remainder of his or her life. The virus is undetectable in a smallpox survivor, as he or she now possesses the antibodies for that disease. Therefore, positive identification of the viral DNA will be present only in individuals who died from the virus. The historical record combined with the presence of large numbers of individuals exhibiting porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia are the main reasons for investigating the presence of smallpox in the Griqua, Khoe, and 'Black' (1) African communities. Although the ancient DNA results were inconclusive for the smallpox virus, its presence in these communities during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries combined with the high rates of PH and CO suggest a possible relationship between the cause of death and smallpox epidemics.

Abstract Smallpox was declared to be eradicated on 8 May 1980, during the Thirty-third World Health Assembly. However, concerns about the possible use of the virus as a weapon of [...]

The history of the last smallpox outbreak in Boston around the turn of the 20th century is reviewed. Many people who opposed vaccination believed it was a violation of their civil rights and also questioned the vaccine's safety and effectiveness.

The author discusses the possible use by the miltary of smallpox as a weapon against both Native Americans and Europeans in Colonial North America.

The disease small pox was responsible for killing 20% of those infected, whilst the remainder would suffer facial scarring and disfigurement. Avoidance of those carrying small pox was initially the most effective defence against the disease, however, five different methods of controlling the disease in eighteenth century England have now been identified. The difference between urban and rural practices are examined.

Data on the earliest smallpox epidemics of the contact era (from 1774 on) among Pacific Northwest Native Americans are scattered and difficult to interpret. There are no eyewitness accounts. Two recent articles, published in Ethnohistory and BC Studies in 1994, interpret the data on early Northwest smallpox differently. This commentary reviews the available evidence for the varying interpretations and makes a request for further research.

Stories of disease-infected blankets deliberately given to Native Americans surfaced after the first European contact and continue to circulate. The vitality of the 'smallpox blanket' story is ensured by documented examples of germ warfare but also by its resonance with the classical Nessus shirt and other poison-garment/deliberate-contamination themes. The moral tension embedded in such tales derives from ambiguous definitions of the Other and boundaries of ethical behavior toward enemies. Analysis of historiography's role in the development of the smallpox blanket story helps clarify its relationship to the classical Nessus shirt and other poison-garment legends. The conclusion describes an emerging blanket story from the Amazon rain forest.

In this article the way in which British smallpox could have sufficient viral activity until 1789 to inflect the local Aborigines is demonstrated. It is felt that if deployed in proper quantities the First Fleets smallpox may have infected highly susceptible people like local Aborigines living around Port Jackson during 1789.

Tametomo no bui toukigami wo shirizoku zu Ukiyo-e woodcut print by Yoshitoshi, c. 1890 Naito Museum of Pharmaceutical Science and Industry Hashima, Gifu, Japan The first record of smallpox in [...]

ABSTRACT: The contributions of black Americans to early American culture have still not been fully explored or given the attention deserved. A case in point is the significant contributions African slaves made to 18-century American folk medicine. A review of the events incident to the smallpox epidemic in Boston in 1721 will illustrate the degree to which some reputable men of science depended on the testimony and experience of Africans in dealing with a particularly dread disease.

Derrick Baxby looks at the history of smallpox vaccination, how it was opposed by many, and how the disease was finally eradicated. Anyone asked to define `conscientious objector' would undoubtedly [...]