smallpox

Everyday

1. Smallpox was a very serious, catching disease that caused a high fever and spots that turned into blisters, often leaving deep scars or killing people. tree →
2. Smallpox is the first human disease ever wiped out completely from the world, thanks to vaccination. tree →

In the lessons

In history and science lessons smallpox comes up in the story of vaccines: Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids who caught mild cowpox did not get smallpox, and he made the first vaccine (the word comes from «vacca», Latin for cow). Pupils also learn that diseases like smallpox, brought by Europeans, killed huge numbers of indigenous people in the Americas and Australia. A worldwide vaccination campaign later ended smallpox completely.

Examples

• Smallpox was once one of the deadliest diseases. tree →
• Edward Jenner used cowpox to protect people from smallpox. tree →
• Thanks to vaccines, nobody catches smallpox any more. tree →
• Smallpox left many survivors with scars. tree →
• Smallpox brought from Europe killed many Native Americans. tree →
• Smallpox was the first disease to be wiped out by people. tree →
• Doctors around the world worked together to end smallpox. tree →

Note

Uncountable: «smallpox», not «a smallpox». One word. It is not the same as chickenpox, which is a much milder, common childhood illness. Now only kept in a few laboratories.