Smallpox History

Smallpox likely diverged from an ancestral African rodent-borne variola-like virus between 16,000 and 68,000 years ago. The precise origins of smallpox are unknown, and most early references to it are unreliable.

Historical records from Asia describe evidence of smallpox-like disease in medical writings from ancient China (1122 B.C.) and India (as early as 1500 B.C.) The earliest credible clinical evidence of smallpox is found in the Egyptian mummies of persons who died some 3000 years ago. It has been speculated that Egyptian traders brought smallpox to India during the 1st millennium BC, where it remained as an endemic human disease for at least 2000 years.

Unmistakable descriptions of smallpox first appeared in the 4th century AD in China and the 7th century in India. Smallpox was likely introduced in China during the 1st century AD from the southwest, and in the 6th century was carried from China to Japan. While the Antonine Plague that swept through the Roman Empire in 165–180 AD may have been caused by smallpox, other historians speculate that Arab armies first carried smallpox out of Africa to Southwestern Europe during the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

During the Middle Ages, smallpox made periodic incursions into Europe but did not become established there until the population increased and population movement became more active during the time of the Crusades.

By the 16th century smallpox was well established over most of Europe. Smallpox was introduced into Australia in 1789 and again in 1829 and caused devastation among the aborigines, but quickly died out on both occasions.

In Russia every 7th child born died from smallpox. the Kangxi Emperor (survived), Shunzhi Emperor and Tongzhi Emperor (refer to the official history) of China, Date Masamune of Japan (who lost an eye to the disease).

Cuitláhuac, the 10th tlatoani (ruler) of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, died of smallpox in 1520, shortly after its introduction to the Americas, and the Incan emperor Huayna Capac died of it in 1527. More recent public figures include: Guru Har Krishan, 8th Guru of the Sikhs, in 1664, Peter II of Russia in 1730 (died), and Maximilian III Joseph in 1777. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, lost sight in his left eye due to an attack of smallpox during his childhood.

Prominent families throughout the world often had several people infected by and/or perish from the disease. For example, several relatives of Henry VIII survived the disease but were scarred by it. These include his sister Margaret, Queen of Scotland, his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, and his two daughters: Mary I of England in 1527 and Elizabeth I of England in 1562 (as an adult she would often try to disguise the pockmarks with heavy makeup). His great-niece, Mary, contracted the disease as a child but had no visible scarring.

In Europe, deaths from smallpox often changed dynastic succession. The only surviving son of Henry VIII, Edward VI, likely died from complications shortly after apparently recovering from the disease, thereby rendering his sire's infamous efforts to provide England with a male heir moot. (His immediate successors were all females.) Louis XV of France succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV through a series of deaths of smallpox or measles among those earlier in the succession line. He himself died of the disease in 1774. William III lost his mother to the disease when he was only ten years old in 1660, and named his uncle Charles as legal guardian: her death from smallpox would indirectly spark a chain of events that would eventually lead to the permanent ousting of the Stuart line from the British throne.

In China, the Qing Dynasty had extensive protocols to protect Manchus from the Peking's endemic smallpox. Most notably, the Kangxi Emperor was promoted to the throne because he had survived the disease, ahead of older brothers who had not yet had it.

Mozart and Beethoven contracted and survived the disease as children; both had visible pockmark scars on their faces.

Both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Presidents of the United States, contracted and recovered from the disease. Lincoln was diagnosed with a mild form of the disease in late November 1863 having probably contracted it from his son Tad. U.S. President Andrew Jackson and his older brother, Robert, contracted smallpox in his youth while imprisoned by the British during the American Revolutionary War. While Robert died from the disease, Andrew survived it and eventually served as the 7th President of the United States.

Smallpox History

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