The U.S. Public Health Service · Episode 14 of 34 · 39 min
Smallpox: From Washington's Inoculation Order to Eradication
Smallpox is the only human disease ever wiped from the earth, and the one through which America twice tried to build a federal vaccine power. Washington ordered the Continental Army inoculated in 1777, an 1813 vaccine law collapsed in 1822, and nine children's deaths in 1901 led to the 1902 law giving the PHS lab vaccine regulatory authority. Eradication in 1980 belonged to the CDC and WHO.
Who's who
- George Washington+5 more episodesOrdered the Continental Army inoculated in 1777
- Edward Jenner+1 more episodeEnglish physician who introduced cowpox vaccination in 1796
- James SmithFederal vaccine agent whose 1822 live-smallpox shipment ended the 1813 act
- D. A. HendersonCDC epidemiologist who led the WHO smallpox eradication unit
Where it happens
- Camden, New Jersey+2 more episodesWhere nine children died of contaminated vaccine in 1901
- Tarboro, North CarolinaWhere live smallpox was mistakenly shipped in 1822
- Hidalgo County, TexasSite of the last U.S. smallpox case
Timeline
- February 6, 1777Washington orders the Continental Army inoculated
- 1796Jenner demonstrates cowpox vaccination
- 1822Congress repeals the Vaccine Act of 1813
- 1901Nine children die in Camden of contaminated vaccine
- July 1, 1902Biologics Control Act authorizes federal vaccine regulation
- 1980WHO declares smallpox eradicated
Still debated
Whether Washington's order saved the Revolution is interpretation. Eradication was a vast international effort, so credit is shared, and 1777 inoculation was variolation with live smallpox, distinct from Jenner's safer vaccination.
← PreviousThe 1918 Influenza Pandemic: The PHS's First Mass-Casualty TestNext →Tuberculosis: The White Plague and the Sanatorium Movement
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