The (Second) Deadliest Virus

This video was made possible through a grant by Open Philanthropy.

Few of the monsters that evolution created have been so successful at hurting us as the variola virus, responsible for smallpox. The carnage it caused was so terrible and merciless that it compelled humankind, for the first time, to act truly globally. It was one of the greatest wins of our species over the ancient powers of nature, all made possible by… cows.

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[richardperhai]

Saw an excellent cartoon about this. A kid asks his mother what the scar on her arm was "It's a scar from the smallpox vaccine." The kid asks why he doesn't have one and the mother replied "Because it worked."

[MagiRaz]

Before my first deployment I received a small-pox vaccine. The medic used a small forked needle dipped in the vaccine to puncture the skin of my shoulder and wiggle it around a bit. The result was a necrotic lesion about the size of a half-dollar coin, a fever, and two or three days of body aches. I still have a scar on my shoulder from the inoculation site. I had ONE lesion and was in bed for 3 days feeling rough while my body fought a version of the disease that wasn't even effective against my species. I cannot IMAGINE the suffering that someone with an actual case of small pox must have endured. By the end, death must've been a sweet release. It's frightening to see the caliber of threat required to get humanity to work together.

[notleviathan]

My great grandfather and grandmother ALWAYS talked about diseases back when they were young. Mostly comparing it to how well he have it now. Some of the stories from my grandfather include the smallpox hysteria, how his father somehow got it while out of the country, and died before even making it home to the US. When they had a vaccine for it, he talked about how he actually got choked up so that nobody would have to suffer that fate anymore. I've seen the wounds smallpox leaves, I couldn't imagine having to live with them.

[vanpet]

My fathers grandmother survived this virus on her own. More than half the village died as she remembers it. Her mother, father and 8 other siblings died from it, she was the only one to survive. Fun fact, she never got sick of anything after this in her life and lived over 90 years.

[TechBearSeattle]

Fun fact: Cowpox is where we get the word "vaccine." It comes from scholarly Latin "vaccina, " which means "pertaining to a cow."

[CMVBrielman]

It is worth noting that Smallpox was the *ideal* virus to eradicate. Its particular traits made it extremely deadly but also extremely easy to target by coordinated vaccination efforts. Most other viruses are nowhere near so considerate.

[meatcrimes-]

i just think calling non-immune cells “civilian cells” is really funny and perfectly descriptive

[FueledByDaria]

What a timely video to pop up on my feed today. I just took my 1-year old for her 12 month vaccines this morning (mumps, measles, rubella) and my heart broke hearing her cry from the shots. But I know that it’s necessary for her protection and I’m so grateful we can protect our children!

[hishamrashid]

In case you all were wondering, the cow that had cowpox was named Blossom.😊

[Harsh-kpmd]

If you didn't knew, the last person to die from small pox was Janet Parker. In 1978, Parker was a medical photographer at England's Birmingham University Medical School. She worked one floor above the Medical Microbiology Department where staff and students conducted smallpox research.

[tysonnm]

the erradication of smallpox is a prime example of just what humans are capable of, and that we are capable of working together. You can be pessimistic, but i think humans are still capable of massive species wide feats like this.

[garg]

"We are still protected by the light, but it is cooling each and every day, and we it to those who will come after us to make sure it doesn't go out. We killed one monster. We can do it again."

Wow, that was inspirational

[moaskarab]

it's really so frustrating to see people in developed nations protesting vaccines. as someone in a developing nation, where people would do anything for access to such healthcare, it feels like we've truly learnt nothing from our history.

[Ratharian]

The revelation came when doctors noticed milk maids didnt get small pox and most farmers showed immunity as well. So when they looked at cowpox, they realized small pox had the same markers, so immunity to one meant immunity to the other.

[psyOmicron]

Virologist postdoc here! Just wanna thank you on your excellent video on smallpox and Edward Jenner! Know that your video is used to educate future immunology undergrads.
Can I suggest Poliovirus next? It's just a really interesting disease/virus with real life visual social impacts like iron lungs and kids in crutches.

[stephensusman]

Big fan of you guys! You all played a role in me deciding to become a biochemistry major and later go into medicine to be a doctor! Just graduated from med school, in my medicine residency, and I still love watching the videos you make! Keep up the good work! (And of course your soundtrack music on Spotify has been a large part of my study background music this entire time!) Excellent work!

[janmelantu]

The greatest opening words of a Wikipedia article are “Smallpox was”

[majkon]

The successful international effort during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox was headed by Czech physician and epidemiologist Karel Raška. His new concept of eliminating the disease was adopted by the WHO in 1967 and eventually led to the eradication of smallpox in 1977. Raška was also a strong promoter of the concept of disease surveillance, which was adopted in 1968 and has since become a standard practice in epidemiology.

[liyuan]

I watched this video then watched the cancer one, and it just makes me think how this disease could’ve just been the “cancer” in the past. And it’s even more unbelievable to think that even cancer could be eliminated in the future! Incredible.

[sakshamverma]

Apart from everything else the animation is so well done. Explains everything at such ease and in a fun and thrilling way! Hats off!