Smallpox: 3,000 Years of Epidemics and the Last Case in History

For 3,000 years, smallpox killed one in three patients and left almost everyone else scarred for life. On October 12, 1977, a cook in Merca, Somalia, became the last human being in history to catch it naturally. This is the complete history of smallpox: from Viking teeth and the disaster in the Americas to Edward Jenner, the 22 children of the Balmis Expedition, the Cold War alliance that funded eradication, and the ring-vaccination strategy that cornered the virus. And why—even though it no longer exists—it still matters today. ▶ Related documentary: The Forgotten History of the World's Most Contagious Disease    • The Most Contagious Virus on Earth Is Back...   CHAPTERS 0:00 The Face of Smallpox 4:44 Three Thousand Years of Traces 8:49 Disaster in the Americas 14:16 The Idea from the East 19:17 Jenner and the Milkmaids 24:12 The Vaccine Goes Around the World 29:00 The 20th Century Builds the Kit 32:58 The Impossible Decision 37:09 Cornering the Virus 42:03 The Last Case 46:18 What It Left Us DISCLAIMER Educational video. It does not replace a medical consultation. Keep your routine vaccinations up to date: you no longer need a smallpox shot thanks to this story, but the rest still save lives. Script medically reviewed by an infectious diseases specialist. KEY SOURCES • Fenner F, Henderson DA, Arita I, Ježek Z, Ladnyi ID. Smallpox and its Eradication. WHO, 1988. iris.who.int/handle/10665/39485 • Mühlemann B et al. Science 2020 (Viking-Age variola virus). DOI 10.1126/science.aaw8977 • Vågene ÅJ et al. Nat Ecol Evol 2018 (cocoliztli). DOI 10.1038/s41559-017-0446-6 • Boylston AW, Williams AE. J R Soc Med 2008 (Boston, 1721). DOI 10.1258/jrsm.2008.08k008 • Jenner E. An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, 1798 • Schrick L et al. NEJM 2017 (1902 American vaccine was horsepox). DOI 10.1056/NEJMc1707600 • Ramírez Martín SM. Rev Complut Hist Am 2003 (Balmis-Salvany Expedition) • Collier LH. J Hyg 1955 (freeze-dried vaccine). DOI 10.1017/s002217240000053x • Foege WH, Millar JD, Lane JM. Am J Epidemiol 1971 (surveillance and containment). DOI 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121325 • Lane JM et al. NEJM 1969 (complications of smallpox vaccination). DOI 10.1056/NEJM196911272812201 • WHO. Final Report of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication, 1979 • Barrett S. Philos Trans R Soc B 2013 (economics of eradication). DOI 10.1098/rstb.2012.0149 • PALM007, NEJM 2025 (DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa2412439) and STOMP, NEJM 2026 (DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa2506495) • WHO. Mpox External Situation Report No. 67, June 26, 2026 TRANSPARENCY Narration uses a cloned synthetic voice of Dr. Iván Trompa. Historical scene recreations are AI-generated illustrations and are labeled on screen; they are not period photographs or paintings. Music licensed from Epidemic Sound: Jo Wandrini, Martin Landh, Laura Metcalf, Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen, John Utah, Aerian, and Gavin Luke. IMAGE CREDITS Wellcome Collection via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (catalog nos.): V0011692, V0011710, V0011695, L0022511, L0035243, V0015933 (Hossein Behzad), V0018133, M0013101, L0039958, L0058901, M0011151, M0010783, V0006373, V0013635, V0011690, L0026138, L0043483, M0005387, M0006243, L0050588 (Michael William Sharp), M0005386, V0003069, M0004456, M0014878, L0029094 (Eugène Ernest Hillemacher), L0057752, L0058556, L0051726, L0021988, L0021989, L0057750. "Francisco J. Balmis (49919396846).jpg", Philipp von Kapff, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. "Sunrise In Mompox Colombia (134694885).jpeg", Jonas Baumgart, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. "Mompox - Case coloniali.jpg", O--o, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All other archival material is in the Public Domain or CC0 (CDC/PHIL, WHO, NARA, Library of Congress, NASA, and others), credited on screen. Archival images were cropped and animated. #smallpox #historyofmedicine #documentary