Strassburg M A
Am J Infect Control. 1982 May;10(2):53-9. doi: 10.1016/0196-6553(82)90003-7.
On May 8, 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly declared the world free of smallpox. This followed approximately 2 1/2 years after the last documented naturally occurring case of smallpox was diagnosed in a hospital worker in Merca, Somalia. A major breakthrough for the eventual control of this disease was the discovery of an effective vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1796. In 1966 the World Health Assembly voted a special budget to eliminate smallpox from the world. At that time, smallpox was endemic in more than 30 countries. Mass vaccination programs were successful in many Western countries; however, a different approach was taken in developing countries. This approach was known as surveillance and containment. Surveillance was aided by extensive house-to-house searches and rewards offered for persons reporting smallpox cases. Containment measures included ring vaccination and isolation of cases and contacts. Hospitals played a major role in transmission in a number of smallpox outbreaks. The World Health Organization is currently supporting several control programs and has not singled out another disease for eradication. The lessons learned from the smallpox campaign can be readily applied to other public health programs.
1980年5月8日，第33届世界卫生大会宣布全球消灭天花。这是在索马里梅尔卡的一名医院工作人员被诊断为最后一例有记录的自然发生的天花病例约两年半之后。1796年爱德华·詹纳发现有效疫苗是最终控制这种疾病的一个重大突破。1966年，世界卫生大会投票通过了一项特别预算，以在全球消灭天花。当时，天花在30多个国家流行。大规模疫苗接种计划在许多西方国家取得了成功；然而，发展中国家采取了不同的方法。这种方法被称为监测与遏制。通过广泛的挨家挨户搜索以及对报告天花病例者给予奖励来辅助监测。遏制措施包括环状疫苗接种以及对病例和接触者进行隔离。在一些天花疫情中，医院在传播方面起到了主要作用。世界卫生组织目前正在支持多个防控项目，尚未挑选出另一种疾病进行根除。从天花防控运动中吸取的经验教训可轻易应用于其他公共卫生项目。
