Smallpox History
Biology Research
History of Smallpox and Scientific Methods of Dr. Edward Jennings
Name: Wael Aboul Hosn Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2010
Grade : 10 ADP
SMALLPOX: THE ORIGIN OF A DISEASE:
The origin of smallpox as a natural disease is lost in prehistory. It is believed to have appeared around 10,000 BC, at the time of the first agricultural settlements in northeastern Africa. It seems credible that it spread from there to India by means of ancient Egyptian merchants. The earliest evidence of skin lesions (An injury to living tissue usually on the skin) resembling those of smallpox is found on faces of mummies from the time of the 18th and 20th Egyptian Dynasties (1570–1085 BC). The mummified head of the Egyptian pharaoh …show more content…
The disease greatly affected the development of Western civilization. The first stages of the decline of the Roman Empire (AD 108) coincided with a large outbreak: the plague of Antonine, which reported for the deaths of almost 7 million people.
Unknown in the New World, smallpox was introduced by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers. The disease killed in large numbers the local population and was the fall of the empires of the Aztecs and the Incas. Similarly, on the eastern coast of North America, the disease was introduced by the early settlers and led to a decline in the native population. The devastating effects of smallpox also gave rise to one of the first examples of biological warfare.
During the French-Indian War (1754–1767), Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the commander of the British forces in North America, suggested the considered the use of smallpox to diminish the American Indian population hostile to the British. Another factor contributing to smallpox in the Americas was the slave trade because many slaves came from regions in Africa where smallpox was originally …show more content…
In the 18th century in Europe, 400,000 people died annually of smallpox, and one third of the survivors went blind.The symptoms of smallpox, appeared suddenly and the sequelae(an abnormality resulted from a disease) were devastating. The case-fatality rate varied from 20% to 60% and left most survivors with disfiguring scars.
In this time smallpox was greatly feared, Voltaire recorded that 60% of people caught smallpox, with 20% of the population dying of it. In the years following 1770 there were at least six people in England and Germany (Sevel, Jensen, Jesty 1774, Rendell, Plett 1791) who had successfully tested the possibility of using the cowpox vaccine as an immunization for smallpox in humans. However, it was not until Jenner's work was proved. Twenty years later did that the procedure became widely understood. Jenner’s Initial Theory: |
The initial source of infection was a disease of horses, called "the grease", and that this was transferred to cows by farm workers, transformed, and then demonstrated as cowpox. The steps of the Scientific Method are:
Observation/Research
Hypothesis/Prediction
History of Smallpox and Scientific Methods of Dr. Edward Jennings
Name: Wael Aboul Hosn Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2010
Grade : 10 ADP
SMALLPOX: THE ORIGIN OF A DISEASE:
The origin of smallpox as a natural disease is lost in prehistory. It is believed to have appeared around 10,000 BC, at the time of the first agricultural settlements in northeastern Africa. It seems credible that it spread from there to India by means of ancient Egyptian merchants. The earliest evidence of skin lesions (An injury to living tissue usually on the skin) resembling those of smallpox is found on faces of mummies from the time of the 18th and 20th Egyptian Dynasties (1570–1085 BC). The mummified head of the Egyptian pharaoh …show more content…
The disease greatly affected the development of Western civilization. The first stages of the decline of the Roman Empire (AD 108) coincided with a large outbreak: the plague of Antonine, which reported for the deaths of almost 7 million people.
Unknown in the New World, smallpox was introduced by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers. The disease killed in large numbers the local population and was the fall of the empires of the Aztecs and the Incas. Similarly, on the eastern coast of North America, the disease was introduced by the early settlers and led to a decline in the native population. The devastating effects of smallpox also gave rise to one of the first examples of biological warfare.
During the French-Indian War (1754–1767), Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the commander of the British forces in North America, suggested the considered the use of smallpox to diminish the American Indian population hostile to the British. Another factor contributing to smallpox in the Americas was the slave trade because many slaves came from regions in Africa where smallpox was originally …show more content…
In the 18th century in Europe, 400,000 people died annually of smallpox, and one third of the survivors went blind.The symptoms of smallpox, appeared suddenly and the sequelae(an abnormality resulted from a disease) were devastating. The case-fatality rate varied from 20% to 60% and left most survivors with disfiguring scars.
In this time smallpox was greatly feared, Voltaire recorded that 60% of people caught smallpox, with 20% of the population dying of it. In the years following 1770 there were at least six people in England and Germany (Sevel, Jensen, Jesty 1774, Rendell, Plett 1791) who had successfully tested the possibility of using the cowpox vaccine as an immunization for smallpox in humans. However, it was not until Jenner's work was proved. Twenty years later did that the procedure became widely understood. Jenner’s Initial Theory: |
The initial source of infection was a disease of horses, called "the grease", and that this was transferred to cows by farm workers, transformed, and then demonstrated as cowpox. The steps of the Scientific Method are:
Observation/Research
Hypothesis/Prediction