Smallpox: A Nightmare That (Probably) Won’t Return
It has been 38 years since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the eradication of a disease that killed hundreds of millions of people in the 20th century alone, and apparently destroyed entire civilizations in the new world.
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The video mentions three ways through which medical teams can cope with disease: Treatment, cure, and prevention. Match the terms in columns A and B:
It is easy to confuse smallpox and chickenpox, because their names are similar. While smallpox was eradicated (as explained in the video), chickenpox still exists, but at lower levels than in the past, thanks to an effective vaccine first given in Israel in the early 2000s.
Pox is plural for pock: a pus-filled swelling on the surface on the skin caused by an eruptive disease.
The video explains that smallpox was transmitted mainly by close contact, face-to-face. Which of the following diseases are transmitted in a similar way? Select all the correct answers:
Flu
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Diabetes
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Coeliac disease (celiac disease)
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Asthma
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How was the transmission of the virus that caused smallpox stopped, in order to eradicate it? Select the correct answers:
Terminating animals that passed the disease to humans.
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Isolating infected patients.
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Vaccinating infected patients’ families.
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Administering antibiotics
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The last smallpox case was recorded was in Somalia, Africa, in 1977. In light of its eradication and the World Health Organization’s recommendation, Israel stopped routinely administering the smallpox vaccine to its citizens in 1980.
The following four sentences focus on the flu. Which of them present reasons why it is not possible to eradicate flu as was done with smallpox? Select the correct answers:
The flu virus causes diseases not only in humans.
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Flu is highly contagious.
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One dose of vaccine is not enough to protect against flu and so the vaccine needs to be taken annually.
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Flu symptoms are similar to symptoms of other diseases and it is difficult to diagnose it without laboratory tests.
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Learning from Smallpox: How to Eradicate a Disease – An interactive video
Play VideoActivity Overview
In this video, students will learn about the global efforts to eradicate smallpox. The video details the various steps that helped to wipe out the disease and what conditions a disease must meet in order for it to be eradicated. The questions are based on the information provided in the video, from which conclusions should be inferred. The questions add information on diseases and their vaccines. This is an enrichment video that presents the topic of diseases and vaccines from a global perspective.
Smallpox, disease, diseases, vaccine, vaccines, virus, pandemic, host, eradication, infection, pathogen, polio
Knowledge building
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