Smallpox was a disease that was deadly. It took the life of thousands of infected people over the course of many years. There was no cure for the disease.
On October 26, 1977, Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital cook in Somalia, because the last person to contract the smallpox disease through natural transmission when he chose to tend an infected child. The child died but Ali Maow Maalin survived. In September of 1978, Janet Parker, an English medical photographer, was exposed to smallpox as the result of a laboratory accident. She did die. The virologist in charge of the medical laboratory felt so guilty about the incident that he committed suicide. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated, but some samples remain in laboratories in Atlanta and Moscow. There are no known cases of smallpox today.
So, the last person who had smallpox and survived the disease was Ali Maow Maalin. The last known person to die from small pox was Janet Parker.
On October 26, 1977, Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital cook in Somalia, because the last person to contract the smallpox disease through natural transmission when he chose to tend an infected child. The child died but Ali Maow Maalin survived. In September of 1978, Janet Parker, an English medical photographer, was exposed to smallpox as the result of a laboratory accident. She did die. The virologist in charge of the medical laboratory felt so guilty about the incident that he committed suicide. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated, but some samples remain in laboratories in Atlanta and Moscow. There are no known cases of smallpox today.
So, the last person who had smallpox and survived the disease was Ali Maow Maalin. The last known person to die from small pox was Janet Parker.
