1972 Small Pox Outbreak - BBC World Service

[JP_]

On the radio now, "Witness History - Europe's last smallpox epidemic"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service

Causes fever, coughing, URT swelling, death. We thought we had eradicated it, but it came back in 1972. The same year, probably coincidentally, that USA ended mandatory vaccination.
Borders were closed, martial law, quarantine centres.

Going back a bit, to USA ...

"The battle between the government and the vocal anti-vaccinators came to a head in a landmark 1902 Supreme Court decision, where the Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to order a vaccination for its population during an epidemic to protect the people from a devastating disease."

"Because so many refused to get vaccinated, there were isolated incidents of smallpox outbreaks in the United States until 1949, says Willrich. It wasn't until 1972 that the U.S. government decided to stop mandatory vaccination against smallpox, in part because the disease had been largely eradicated."

https://www.npr.org/2011/04/05/1351...mic-changed-vaccination-rules?t=1637657741642​

Once again, we don't learn from history.

 

[gas112]

Small pox only meant to be kept in two labs in the world russia and usa , but only this week quite a few vials labeled small pox were found in drug companies freezer but they are saying it was wrongly labelled and was vaccine not the first time vials have been found outside of the 2 main labs

 

[JP_]

Maybe by coincidence, but the discussion now mentioned how we escaped a small pox outbreak in 1973 after a leak from a lab (The story of the controversial birth of genetic engineering in the 1970s.), and there was another in 1978 - this led to the Shooter Inquiry

Smallpox
HC Deb 12 April 1973 vol 854 cc364-5W364W
§Dr. Vaughan asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the steps being taken to prevent the spread of infection following the recent cases of smallpox in London; and whether he will make a statement.
§Sir K. Joseph Yes. There have been three cases of smallpox in the current episode, the first being a woman laboratory technician, aged 23, who was admitted to the Harrow Road branch of St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, on 16th March. When smallpox was suspected on 23rd March she was transferred to Long Reach Smallpox Hospital but in the intervening period a man and his wife, who were visiting another patient in the same ward, became infected and were admitted to an infectious diseases hospital on 2nd April and transferred to Long Reach on 4th April. The wife has since died. There is evidence that the original source of infection lay in a laboratory next to that in which the woman technician worked.
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1973/apr/12/smallpox​

The 1978 smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom resulted in the death of Janet Parker, a British medical photographer, who became the last recorded person to die from smallpox.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_smallpox_outbreak_in_the_United_Kingdom
​

 

[JohnD]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_United_States

"In 2018, 371 cases of measles were confirmed in the United States. From January to August 2019, 1215 cases across 30 states had been confirmed as measles by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[4] This is the largest number of cases in one calendar year since the disease was declared eliminated.[5] In 2019, a state of emergency was declared in New York City[6] and Washington[7] in response to the extremely contagious disease. There is concern that the World Health Organization (WHO) may rescind the U.S.'s measles elimination status.[8]

The vast majority of people infected had not received vaccination and were living in close-knit communities where the immunization rate is lower than average.[9] The director of the National Institutes of Health wrote in 2016 that parents refusing to vaccinate their children were leading to outbreaks of preventable diseases, including measles.[10] The World Health Organization also reported that the rise in measles is a direct result of anti-vaccination movements.[11] The recommended measles vaccination protocol is to receive two doses, at least one month apart. One dose of the vaccination is 93 percent effective at preventing measles, while two doses is 97 percent effective.[12]

Measles is one of the most contagious of infectious diseases.[13] If not immunized, a person exposed to someone with measles has a 95% chance of becoming infected. During the early stage of an outbreak in an unvaccinated population, each infected person spreads the disease to an average of 12 to 18 other people.[14]"

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Once again, we don't learn from history.

Only some people do not learn..

 

[JP_]

Well, yes. Maybe better to say history repeats itself!