Smallpox (jan 1, 300 BC – dec 9, 1979)
Description:
-Airborne virus
-Has killed over 300 million people worldwide
-Lands on oral, raspatory mucosal cells, then taken to lymph nodes, disseminated to organs and white blood cells are infected
-2 types of smallpox, variola major and variola minor
-Most severe and common form is variola major with a case fatality rate of 15-25 percent and variola minor having a case fatality rate of less than 1-2 percent
-Earliest found case of smallpox was on a 3000 year old mummy
-Was the cause of the fall of the Aztec empire which was brought there by Cortez and had a death rate of 70-90 percent to the Aztec population
-Thought that treatment for smallpox was to balance humors through bleeding, sweating or vomiting
Added to timeline:
Alex Wang Diseases in History Timeline
Date:
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