Circa 10,000 BCE: earliest suspected existence of

Smallpox occurred in ancient agricultural settlements in

Northeast Africa. It is unknown what the people of this
time did to treat the disease but it is likely they had no
effective methods to prevent spreading or fatalities. The
original pathogen is likely to have evolved from a rodentvirus.

 1570-1085 BCE: evidence such as the mummified

body of King Ramses V of Egypt and records on stone tablets
suggest earliest definitive instances of Smallpox in India
and Egypt. The ancient Egyptians had an impressive
understanding of the human body and its illnesses relative to
their time period and did make an effort to maintain a state
of cleanliness when dealing with disease, but nonetheless
could not have developed an effective treatment of
Smallpox. Surely if they had they would have given the best
to Ramses V.

 430 BCE: the Plague of Athens, Greece is believed to

have been mainly caused by Smallpox. First occurred in the
year 430 BCE as a result of the Peloponnesian war and
returned twice more in 429 BCE and in the winter of
427/426 BCE. Due to the high infectivity of the virus the
sick were often left untreated because anyone who did treat
them would unfailingly become sick themselves.

 165-180 AD: Roman soldiers returning from the near

east bring a plague to the Roman Empire that is believed
to have been either smallpox or measles. Called the
Antonine Plague, the outbreak raged in Syria and Italy for
fifteen years and claimed an estimated 5 million lives. The
Roman Empire was often plagued with disease largely due to
the open sewer systems and the dense, communally-bathing
population. Little steps were taken to prevent the spread of
Smallpox in these times.

 250-270 AD: Rome was afflicted by the Plague of

Cyprian during a time of political crisis and was once again
ill-suited to prevent the disease from taking a large amount
of lives.

 568 AD: Ethiopian troops return from invasion of

Mecca and bring Smallpox with them. Very little is recorded
in this area from this time, however there is evidence that
suggests that soldiers in fighting in the Elephant Wars
throughout the Middle East and Northeast Africa
contracted Smallpox during a siege of Mecca and brought it

back with them to Africa. It is believed that this would later

lead to Smallpox spreading to the Americas in the 1600s
during the Atlantic Slave Trade. No treatments had been
developed at this point. As European countries colonize
Africa they frequently encounter the Smallpox virus.

1545: Outbreaks in India begin to become more

frequent as the population becomes more dense and
medical practice does not become at all more sophisticated.
1625: North American epidemic brought on by
Atlantic Slave Trade.

 1700s: Outbreaks in Russia claim roughly one in seven

children each year. Eventually selective pressures in the
population led to a drop in the diseases frequency as the
resistant individuals became more prevalent. The sick are
isolated as to not infect the healthy, but no treatments exist
thus far.

1700s: Frequent outbreaks in the North American

colonies occurring within colonist and native populations
alike, with the most deaths occurring in native populations.
First major outbreak in a colony occurred in 1692 in Boston,

MA. Colonists could do little more than the natives to

prevent the disease, the only treatment still being to avoid
the sick and their bodily fluids. Meanwhile Smallpox has
become an endemic disease in almost every population on
Earth with the exception of Australia and several other
smaller islands.

1789: Major outbreak in Australian aboriginal

population leaves about half of the East-coast aborigines
dead. The original cause is still under debate, the two
suspects being the original fleet of English settler and other

earlier visitors to the continent. Still no treatment. The

natives had never been exposed to the virus before and a
vaccine had yet to be developed.
1796: Edward Jenner of England effectively prevents
Smallpox in humans by injecting them first with Cowpox.

1800: Dr. John Clinch of Newfoundland develops the

Smallpox vaccine and introduces it to the New World
1864: Outbreak in Angola caused by occupying
Portuguese soldiers, 25,000 inhabitants die (roughly of

their population at the time) due to lack of access to

vaccines.
1870-1875: Epidemics in Europe caused by FrancoPrussian War leave more than 500,000 dead.

1958: Professor Viktor Zhdanov, Deputy Minister of

Health for the USSR, calls on World Health assembly for a
global effort to eradicate Smallpox.
1975: The last wildly-occurring case of Smallpox is
diagnosed in Somalia, Africa.

Photo of Rahima Banu from Bangladesh, most recent case of naturally occurring
Variola major