Smallpox is perhaps the most dramatic.
It took nearly two centuries following Edward Jenner's demonstration in 1796 of the efficacy of vaccination to rid the world of this affliction. No treatment for smallpox has ever been found. Yet it is the first disease for which an effective method of prevention was discovered. Robert Koch, Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister spearheaded the rapid advances that led to the establishment of microbiology as a science. Pasteurization, aseptic surgery, and advances in hygiene have been important tools in the battle against emerging infectious diseases.