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Smallpox Vaccine
About Smallpox Vaccine
The first successful vaccine, developed by Edward Jenner in 1796. Jenner noticed that milkmaids who caught cowpox were immune to smallpox. He inoculated a boy with cowpox and then exposed him to smallpox, proving immunity. Smallpox vaccination campaigns gradually eliminated the disease. The World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated in 1980, the only human disease ever eradicated. Routine vaccination ended after eradication. The smallpox vaccine demonstrated that vaccines could eliminate diseases entirely.
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