Successful smallpox eradication: what can we learn to control COVID-19?
Dominique Heymann, Annelies Wilder‐Smith
Abstract
The public health community needs to learn from history and needs to regain its ability to do shoe-leather public health. If we come together collectively and use the public health tools that we have at hand, we will be successful in containing COVID-19 despite geopolitical tensions, just as we were successful in eradicating smallpox despite the Cold War at the time.
Topics & Concepts
SmallpoxMedicinePublic healthCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakPandemicGeopoliticsSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)BetacoronavirusVirologyPublic relationsVaccinationNursingLawInfectious disease (medical specialty)OutbreakPoliticsPathologyPolitical scienceDiseaseZoonotic diseases and public healthCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesViral Infections and Outbreaks Research