Without smallpox, the world would look very different today. The deadly disease contributed to the colonization of America, the fall of the Aztec Empire, and many more landmark events in history. Even though today we are completely free of the disease, traces of it still exist in high secured laboratories and it is critical that we all know about smallpox. Therefore today, I will explain what it is, what it does in the body, how you get it, who it affects, and more. Without further delay let’s get started…
While the name of the disease is Smallpox, the name of the virus is Variola. Variola is an orthopoxvirus, these viruses are like chickenpox or cowpox that create a rash of red blisters in the skin. It is also a DNA virus, this basically means it needs DNA to replicate. All of this information I got from the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, under the article Smallpox which was last updated on February 24, 2014.
As I just said, smallpox needs DNA to replicate and it replicates through the Lytic Cycle. This is when a virus attaches to a cell, injects its DNA into it, the cell starts making lots of new viruses, and eventually the cell breaks, releasing new viruses into the bloodstream.
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Smallpox is highly contagious and dangerous. It spread through physical contact with the person, objects they touched, and bodily fluids. Once it is inside of you it will affect the cells that cover the mouth, throat and respiratory tract and as time passes it attacks cells in the liver, spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow. Smallpox also contains a protein that kills human interferons. This protein blocks molecules trying to stop replication. In other words, the virus will keep on replicating and the body won’t be able to stop it. I retrieved all of this information in March 22 from MedicineNet.com, under the Smallpox article which was written by Charles Patrick
The Columbian Exchange was the movement of people, animals, goods, plants, diseases, and microorganism that occurred in the sixteenth century. The effects of The Columbian Exchange on early American society were extensive. One of the most devastating effects was the spreading of disease that killed around ninety percent of the Native American population. When Europeans came to the New World they brought with them diseases such as, “smallpox, measles, typhus, and cholera”(document one). The native’s immune systems were not prepared to fight theses diseases and this lead to a catastrophic amount of fatalities.
This caused millions of people to fall ill from smallpox, a disease that the Spanish had brought from the Old World. The Spanish were
This field is analogous to epidemiology. It is geared more toward viruses specifically whereas epidemiology focus on diseases in general. It “is the study of viruses and virus-like agents, including (but not limited to) their taxonomy, disease-producing properties, cultivation and genetics” (Meštrović,2015). Medical professionals like Max Theiler go through a process to determine what kind of virus is being analyzed. They classify components of the virus so it was indistinguishable contagion.
In the book, Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 by Elizabeth Fenn (2001), depicts the casualty of one of the deadliest virus in mankind -- the smallpox during the American War of Independence and how it shaped the course of the war and the lives of everyone in the North America. Smallpox is a highly contagious disease caused by an Orthopoxvirus known as variola major virus. Spread by direct transmission, the disease produces high fever, headache, excruciating back pain, anxiety, general malaise, blindness at times, and the most distinctive of all, blistering rashes that can leave deep-pitted scars. Its spread could be attributed through human civilizations, voyaging, expansion of trade routes. The European colonizers brought
One major disease was small pox. Smallpox, an acute contagious viral disease, with fever and pustules usually leaving permanent scars. It was effectively eradicated through vaccination by the year 1979. Many people died from this disease. “A violent kind of smallpox rages in Charles-Town that brings most of the businesses to a halt.
A virus that spread easily and could be deadly when not treated. In the Age of Exploration time period they didn’t have the technology like we have today to cure such a disease. In documents 2a-b the first part is a statement talking about how the Natives and Africans rarely got sick, its says “ There was no sickness; they had no aching bones; they had then no high fever; they had then no smallpox.” This is showing how before the Europeans all of the diseases and the sicknesses that came with them never occurred in the Natives life. In the document the second portion that follows says, “ There was great havoc.
The exchange also brought diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza
This is when my greedy scrooge side kicked in. I’ve come to think that my parents died from smallpox we had been learning about it in school but my parents had the same symptoms rash on face, pain in their backs and they always had a high fever. If that’s what their guy had this is going to sound bad but he didn’t have much time left there is no cure and these guys are some of the biggest criminals in london.
In some areas contact with smallpox wiped out nine-tenths of the Indians population. Smallpox was brought over by animals when they were transported overseas. It is communicated through the air by means of droplets or dust particles and enters the body through the respiratory tract. Europeans were not as susceptible to smallpox because they had built up much stronger immune systems from being around epidemic pathogens for a long time. They viewed smallpox as an illness almost every child gets while growing up.
But the indigenous population fared much worse. Nearly 90% would be eradicated by smallpox. A result of having no immunity to the newly introduced virus.
Smallpox, or Variola major, is a deadly viral disease . The virus is shaped like brick covered in small spikes, and has been infecting humans for thousands of years. Smallpox even affected the course of the Revolutionary War. The disease had been killing many of George Washington’s men, and only when he had them protected from smallpox, could the Americans keep fighting for freedom. Smallpox has a very riveting history.
During that time, measles were spread by explorer-to-native contact, animals, and filthy living conditions. Like today, there was no cure. Much of the Native American population drastically decreased amid the Age of Exploration. Based on the presented evidence, it can be concluded that measles were the most significant element of the Columbian
Smallpox is a highly contagious and fatal disease that had a huge impact on the human population. It is thought to have been originated from India or Egypt at least 3,000 years ago. Smallpox is caused by two variations of the variola virus, variola major and variola minor. Variola major is the most common form of smallpox. It enters the body through the lungs and is carried to the internal organs.
As the Europeans found native along the coasts of the New World, they found them easily malleable and able to be used, so they enslaved them and those who fought back were wiped out. Europeans, as well as the Africans, had built up a resistance to many diseases such as smallpox and were therefore not really affected as much by the diseases if they became sick. However, the Native Americans had not had contact with the disease and it quickly spread rapidly and slowly helped the Spanish rid themselves of the natives so they could take control of the land. Geoffrey Cowley offers insight on just how profound the effect of smallpox was when he writes, “ ...When the newcomers arrived carrying mumps, measles, whooping cough, smallpox, cholera, gonorrhea and yellow fever, the Indians were immunologically
Smallpox outbreaks have occurred from time to time for thousands of years, but the disease is now eradicated after a successful worldwide vaccination program. The last naturally occurring case in the world was in Somalia in 1977. After the disease was eliminated from the world, routine vaccination against smallpox among the general public was stopped because it was no longer necessary for prevention. In 1970, when smallpox was nearly eradicated, a previously unrecognized orthopoxvirus named monkey pox was identified in humans.