| Description |
334 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-320) and index. |
| Contents |
Foreword / Richard Preston -- Preface -- 1. The disease, the virus, and its history -- The oldest of scourges and the most devastating -- A case of smallpox -- The virus -- How long can the smallpox virus survive? -- Smallpox in ancient times -- Smallpox becomes endemic -- Smallpox and the settlement of the new world -- Early protection against smallpox -- Variolation -- Jenner's vaccine -- Needed--a better vaccine -- Calves become vaccinia factories -- Better distribution--door-to-door cows -- A heat-stable vaccine -- A second form of smallpox -- Smallpox begins to lose ground -- 2. The world decides to eradicate smallpox -- The beginning of the eradication saga -- 1953 : a global eradication program is proposed--and rejected -- 1958 : the Soviet Union makes a new proposal to eradicate smallpox -- Mission impossible? -- The US Communicable Disease Center becomes engaged with smallpox -- Concerns about vaccine complications -- The United States offers to support a West Africa program--a startling development -- The Director-General challenges the 1966 Assembly -- 3. Creating a global program -- A program in its infancy -- Countries, fiefdoms, and short-circuiting the bureaucracy -- The creation of the program budget -- How many smallpox cases? -- The realities of executing a simple, two-part strategy -- Mass-vaccination strategy -- Surveillance and containment--a new component -- Availability of vaccine--an apparently soluble problem is anything but -- Vaccination techniques--there have to be better ways -- Communication--conflict and controversy -- Off and on the World Health Assembly agendas -- Three reporting systems become one -- A surveillance report threatens the whole program -- Diplomatic challenges--the Cold War and other problems -- Yet another problem--obtaining a competent staff -- Results a transformation -- |
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4. Where to begin? A tale of two countries--Brazil and Indonesia -- Stonewalling -- The Brazilian program--a regrettable saga -- Vaccine problems -- Surveillance-containment saves the day -- The program staggers to a finish -- A last regrettable chapter--certifying eradication in South America -- Indonesia--a remarkable achievement with few resources -- Certification of eradication--a serious effort is made -- 5. Africa--a formidable and complicated challenge -- An early start in West Africa -- Surveillance-containment is renamed "eradication-escalation" -- Smallpox is eradicated from Africa's two largest countries -- Zaire--major epidemic center at the heart of Africa -- Sudan--a smallpox-free country becomes infected -- Eastern Africa--a mass-vaccination achievement -- Southern Africa -- The Botswana debacle -- The lessons of Africa -- 6. India and Nepal--a natural home of endemic smallpox -- An ambitious national program is created--1962 -- The program nearly collapses--1967-1969 -- A resurrection of the program--1970 -- An unexpected catastrophe in West Bengal--refugees from East Pakistan--1971 -- The "final phase"--target zero--delusional optimism--1972 -- The ultimate strategy--1973 -- The darkest days of all--January to June 1974 -- Yet another catastrophe -- A summer program--1974 -- 7. Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh--the last stronghold of variola major -- Afghanistan -- Pakistan (West Pakistan Province before December 1971) -- Bangladesh : the end of variola major -- A renewed eradication program begins--1968 -- Civil war--March 1971 -- Reinfection--December 1971 -- The epidemic spreads--1972 -- The disaster of November 1973 and recovery -- Bulldozers, floods, and famine trigger yet another disaster--1974 -- One last disaster--1975 -- 8. Ethiopia and Somalia--the last countries with smallpox -- Ethiopia -- Troubles in beginning the program -- The tip of the iceberg--1971-1972 -- Disaster : drought, famine, hordes of refugees--1974 -- Floods, fighting, and unexpected news--1975 -- Somalia : an epidemic that should never have happened -- Smallpox before 1975 -- Growing suspicions -- Smallpox uncovered in Mogadishu--September 1976 -- Lies, cover-ups, and secret records -- The last case -- |
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9. Smallpox--post-eradication -- Eradication--what does it mean and how do we define it? -- Surveillance and search -- A routine reporting system -- Special searches -- Rumor registries -- International commissions -- Global certification of smallpox eradication -- The World Health Assembly--1980 -- Post-eradication -- The book and the archives -- Monkeypox--a potential threat? -- Reserve stocks of vaccine -- Laboratories retaining stocks of smallpox virus -- To destroy or to retain the remaining stocks of smallpox virus -- The initial steps toward smallpox virus destruction -- Objections to virus destruction -- The January 1995 executive board is blocked from taking action -- Attempts to reconcile an impasse -- The executive board and the World Health Assembly--1996 and onward -- 10. Smallpox as a biological weapon -- Biological warfare--the emerging threat -- The Soviet Union's secret--a massive bioweapons program -- The Soviet bioweapons legacy--who else might have the smallpox virus? -- An ill-prepared United States awakens to a threat -- A symposium changes minds -- An expert "working group" -- From working group to a center -- The Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies -- The "dark winter" exercise -- New challenges--post-September 11 -- How to deal with a smallpox epidemic -- The vaccine production miracle -- The Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness -- Let's vaccinate everyone! -- A national vaccination program starts and collapses -- Smallpox on the international scene -- Atlantic storm--a reminder that smallpox is not to be forgotten -- 11. Lessons and legacies of smallpox eradication -- The siren song of eradication -- The legacy of the smallpox eradication program -- An expanded program on immunization begins -- A paradigm for EPI--the program in Latin America -- New horizons in public health -- Acknowledgments -- Sources -- Index. |
| Summary |
"This spellbinding book is Dr. Henderson's personal story of how he led the World Health Organization's campaign to eradicate smallpox-the only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated. Some have called this feat "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century" -- inside cover. |
| Subject |
Henderson, Donald A. (Donald Ainslie), 1928-2016
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Smallpox -- History -- 20th century.
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Smallpox -- epidemiology.
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History, 20th Century.
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Smallpox -- history.
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Smallpox -- prevention & control.
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| ISBN |
9781591027225 cloth alkaline paper |
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1591027225 cloth alkaline paper |
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