A Working Group of U.S. military and civilian experts convened at Johns Hopkins, reached similar conclusions. The factors which until 1980 made smallpox the most feared of all infections are, in fact, heightened today. Recall that until the 1970s, all countries conducted routine vaccination programs, even those that had not experienced the disease for decades. They feared the possible importation of the disease and its subsequent spread. Moreover, as many will remember, all travelers had to carry a yellow vaccination card attesting to the fact that one had been successfully vaccinated within the preceding three years.
Smallpox is a virus disease that normally spreads from person to person by airborne droplets.
Twelve to 14 days after exposure, the patient develops very high fever, severe aching pains, and usually takes to bed. Some have described the disease as being similar to having thousands of boils all over the body. By the second week, if the patient survives, scabs form. They fall off, leaving deeply pitted scars. Some people are left blind.