9 December 1979, Sunday, What happened on | TakeMeBack.to Fulton J Sheen : American archbishop and television preacher (Born 1895). Facts: Murle Breer / Dave Eichelberger wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction. The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction. A major earthquake and tsunami kills 259 people in Colombia. Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee. The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia. Subscribe to our Newsletter Don't miss our monthly news, no spam guarantee Click here to Subscribe ...and if 9 December 1979 was your Birth Date then Join our Birthday Club!

Music Charts Round 5 Jeopardy Template What did a famous Sam open in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas? 100 America celebrated which birthday in 1976? 100 In the 80s, what company used little alligators as its symbol on clothing? 100 Which celebrity popularized the hairstyle known as The Rachel? 100 What is 50 year old? How old was Michael Jackson when he died in 2009? 200 Who was Helen Keller? What was the name of the blind and deaf scholar who died in the USA aged 88 200 The record of the year in 1978 was 'Hotel California' by which rock group? 200 Who is Pete Rose? In 1989, which manager of the Cincinnati Reds got a lifetime ban for gambling on baseball during his tenure? 200 What is Old Navy? What retailer hoped TV ads with bug-eyed Carrie Donovan and a dog named Magi could help sell clothing? 200 What is the year 2014 in Roman numerals? 300 Which beauty company advertised with this tagline: "Because I’m worth it"?

300 In 1971, which country was formed when East Pakistan and West Pakistan split? 300 What is Mt. St. Helens? What volcano erupted in 1980 that became the worst volcanic disaster in US history? 300 Who is Stephen King? What author bought the minivan that hit him for $1,500 so he could take a sledgehammer to it? 300 Which former President of the United States died on December 26, 2006 aged 93? 400 In the 60s, whose silk screen painting brought art into mainstream America? 400 What is Saturday night Live? What late night comedy show premiered on NBC in 1975? 400 What is The Challenger? In 1986, Which US space shuttle went up in flames immediately after its launch, killing all seven astronauts? 400 Who is Tommy Hilfiger? What denim designer paid $42,550 at a Christie's auction for three pairs of Marilyn Monroe's jeans? 400 What is waterboarding? What did Eric Holder (new US Attorney General) define as torture that Dick Cheney said was not?

500 Which athlete introduced a new high jumping technique at the 1968 Mexico Olympics? 500 What is Small Pox? In December 1979, which human disease was certified to be eradicated, the first driven to extinction? 500 Which Indian Prime Minister was assassinated in 1984? 500 What Keanu Reeves movie became the first DVD to sell one million copies? 500 Who was Jacqueline Kenndy Onasis? Historical audio-taped interviews with what famous wife were released by her daughter for transcription in 2010, having been sealed since 1964? This Day in History - December 9 - at Internet 4 Classrooms 1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster. 1851 - The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec. 1872 - In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state. 1875 - The Massachusetts Rifle Association, "America's Oldest Active Gun Club", is founded.

1946 - The "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" begin with the "Doctors' Trial", prosecuting doctors alleged to be involved in human experimentation. 1962 - The Petrified Forest National Park is established in Arizona. 1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco. 1971 - The United Arab Emirates join the United Nations. 1979 - The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction. 2008 - The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for a number of crimes including attempting to sell the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama's election to the Presidency. Famous Birthdays: John Milton (English poet), Peter Pelham (English-American organist and composer), Fritz Haber (German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate), James Rainwater (American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate), McKayla Maroney (American gymnast) For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities .

1979 Newspapers - Historic Newspapers Historic Newspapers Free Delivery when buying 3 or more items 03300 669700 Call for Assistance 1979 Newspaper An Original Newspaper From 1979 Is The Ultimate Gift Welcome to the world's largest original Newspaper Archive where we you can search for 1979 Newspapers from any day in 1979. These genuine editions have been carefully preserved under optimum conditions and make perfect keepsake gifts for milestone occasions, such as anniversaries and birthdays. Your 1979 Newspaper comes with a Personalised Certificate of Authenticity and a choice of special presentation options to help preserve this window into the world once was that will be loved and cherished by the recipient for many years to come. Choose your Date View Available Newspapers from the Archive Choose your Gift Pack option Personalise your Certificate of Authenticity The Perfect Gift for Any Occasion Headlines From 1979 Events UK Recipients love to read what was happening in the world on a date that has a special meaning to them, such as a birthday or anniversary, as it creates a fascinating connection with their past.

A 1979 Newspaper offers the ultimate insight into 1979 news as it offers a true window into how the world once was, reported first hand from those living at that time. Birthday Newspapers offer a wonderful trip down memory lane, and the personal nature of this present will show that you have put a lot of thought into your gift. Headlines From 1979 Events Not only will your newspaper be a fantastic way to discover 1979 history but it will also be a treasured gift of high sentimental value. This is made even more special with the certificate of authenticity included with every 1979 newspaper, at no extra charge. This can be personalised with not only the recipients name and the occasion but also a personal message. Add the perfect finishing touch to this special gift with one of our many stunning presentation options, ranging from commemorative keepsake folders to beautifully crafted gift boxes. These look great but will also help to store your 1979 newspaper so that it can be referred to and enjoyed for many years to come.

Not just by the person receiving it but by future generations that will enjoy sharing trips down memory lane as the 1979 pictures, headlines and news reports bring back fond memories from the past. Newspaper 1979 Article Coverage Please see below for a breakdown of important events that happened in 1979 which are likely to be covered in your newspaper dependent on the date selected. If you're looking for specific 1979 news headlines then please feel free to contact our archivist team who are experts when it comes to researching old newspapers from this significant period of historical interest. Date Event 7th January 1979 Vietnam and supporting Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area along the Thai border. 18th February 1979 The Sahara Desert experiences snow for thirty minutes. 22nd February 1979 Saint Lucia becomes independent of the United Kingdom. 30th March 1979 Airey Neave, a World War II veteran and Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman, is killed by an Irish National Liberation Army bomb in the House of Commons car park.

4th May 1979 The Conservatives win the general election and Margaret Thatcher becomes the new Prime Minister. 8th May 1979 Ten shoppers die in Manchester city centre due to a fire in a Woolworth’s store. 30th May 1979 Nottingham Forest wins the European Cup, beating Malmo 1-0 in the Munich-based final. 2nd June 1979 Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country. 11th June 1979 John Wayne, American actor (b. 1907) dies from stomach cancer. 16th July 1979 Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam Hussein replaces him. 9th August 1979 The first British nudist beach is established in Brighton. 27th August 1979 Lord Mountbatten and three other people are assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He was a British admiral, statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

On the same day, the Warrenpoint ambush occurs: Provisional Irish Republican Army members attack a British convoy at Narrow Water, County Down, killing eighteen British soldiers. 1st September 1979 The U.S. ‘Pioneer 11’ becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km. 4th November 1979 3,000 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take ninety hostages; fifty-three of whom are American. The radicals demand that the United States send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial. 23rd November 1979 In Dublin, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten. 4th December 1979 The Hastie fire in Kingston upon Hull leads to the deaths of three boys. The hunt begins for Bruce George Peter Lee, the United Kingdom's most prolific killer. 9th December 1979 The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified. Smallpox is therefore the first human disease to be driven to extinction.

24th December 1979 Eradication of infectious diseases | Wiki | Everipedia You can edit something on the page right now! Register today, it's fast and free. Eradication of infectious diseases Copy URL Embed / Widget A child suffering from smallpox . In 1979, the World Health Organisation announced the global eradication of smallpox. It is the only human disease to be eradicated worldwide. Eradication of infectious diseases Freebase ID /m/03d5dwt Eradication is the reduction of an infectious disease 's prevalence in the global host population to zero. [3] It is sometimes confused with elimination, which describes either the reduction of an infectious disease's prevalence in a regional population to zero, or the reduction of the global prevalence to a negligible amount. Further confusion arises from the use of the term eradication to refer to the total removal of a given pathogen from an individual (also known as clearance of an infection ), particularly in the context of HIV and certain other viruses where such cures are sought.

Selection of infectious diseases for eradication is based on rigorous criteria, as both biological and technical features determine whether a pathogenic organism is (at least potentially) eradicable. The targeted organism must not have a non-human reservoir (or, in the case of animal diseases, the infection reservoir must be an easily identifiable species, as in the case of rinderpest ), and/or amplify in the environment. This implies that sufficient information on the life cycle and transmission dynamics is available at the time an eradication initiative is programmed. An efficient and practical intervention (such as a vaccine or antibiotic) must be available to interrupt transmission of the infective agent. Studies of measles in the pre-vaccination era led to the concept of the critical community size , the size of the population below which a pathogen ceases to circulate. Use of vaccination programmes before the introduction of an eradication campaign can reduce the susceptible population. The disease to be eradicated should be clearly identifiable, and an accurate diagnostic tool should exist. Economic considerations, as well as societal and political support and commitment, are other crucial factors that determine eradication feasibility.

[6] Eight attempts have been made to date to eradicate infectious diseases: two successful programs targeting smallpox and rinderpest ; four ongoing programs targeting poliomyelitis , yaws , dracunculiasis and malaria ; and two former programs targeting hookworm and yellow fever . Five more infectious diseases have been identified as of April 2008 as potentially eradicable with current technology by the Carter Center International Task Force for Disease Eradication— measles , mumps , rubella , lymphatic filariasis and cysticercosis . [7] Eradicated So far, two diseases have been successfully eradicated—one specifically affecting humans (smallpox), and one affecting a wide range of ruminants (rinderpest). Smallpox Smallpox was the first disease, and so far the only infectious disease of humans, to be eradicated by deliberate intervention. It became the first disease for which there was an effective vaccine in 1798 when Edward Jenner showed the protective effect of inoculation ( vaccination ) of humans with material from cowpox lesions.

[11] Smallpox (variola) occurred in two clinical varieties: variola major, with a mortality rate of up to 40 percent, and variola minor, also known as alastrim , with a mortality rate less than one percent. The last naturally occurring case of Variola major was diagnosed in October 1975 in Bangladesh . The last naturally occurring case of smallpox (Variola minor) was diagnosed on 26 October 1977, on Ali Maow Maalin , in the Merca District, of Somalia . The source of this case was a known outbreak in the nearby district of Kurtuware. All 211 contacts were traced, revaccinated, and kept under surveillance. [13] After two years' detailed analysis of national records the global eradication of smallpox was certified by an international commission of smallpox clinicians and medical scientists on 9 December 1979, and endorsed by the General Assembly of the World Health Organization on 8 May 1980.

However, there is an ongoing controversy regarding the continued storage of the smallpox virus by labs in the US and Russia, as any accidental or deliberate release could create a new epidemic for persons born after or in the late 1980s due to the cessation of vaccinations against the smallpox virus. Rinderpest During the 20th century, there were a series of campaigns to eradicate rinderpest , a viral disease which infected cattle and other ruminants and belonged to the same family as measles , primarily through the use of a live attenuated vaccine. [16] The final, successful campaign was led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . On 14 October 2010, with no diagnoses for nine years, the Food and Agriculture Organization announced that the disease had been completely eradicated, [17] making this the first (and so far the only) disease of livestock to have been eradicated by human undertakings.

Global eradication underway References: [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] A dramatic reduction of the incidence of poliomyelitis in industrialized countries followed the development of a vaccine in the 1950s. In 1960, Czechoslovakia became the first country certified to have eliminated polio. In 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International , the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) passed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative . Its goal was to eradicate polio by the year 2000. The updated strategic plan for 2004–2008 expects to achieve global eradication by interrupting poliovirus transmission, using the strategies of routine immunization , supplementary immunization campaigns, and surveillance of possible outbreaks. The WHO estimates that global savings from eradication, due to forgone treatment and disability costs, could exceed one billion U.S. dollars per year.

[26] The following world regions have been declared polio-free: 22 4 Dracunculiasis , also called Guinea worm disease, is a painful and disabling parasitic disease caused by a worm, Dracunculus medinensis . It is spread through consumption of drinking water infested with copepods hosting Dracunculus larvae. The Carter Center has led the effort to eradicate the disease, along with the CDC, the WHO, UNICEF, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation . Unlike diseases such as smallpox and polio, there is no vaccine or drug therapy for guinea worm. Eradication efforts have been based on making drinking water supplies safer (e.g. by provision of borehole wells, or through treating the water with larvicide), on containment of infection and on education for safe drinking water practices. These strategies have produced many successes: two decades of eradication efforts have reduced guinea worm's global incidence to 22 cases in 2015, down from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986. Success has been slower than was hoped—the original goal for eradication was 1995.

The WHO has certified 180 countries free of the disease, and only four countries— South Sudan , Mali , Ethiopia , and Chad —reported cases of guinea worm in 2015. [36] [41] [44] As of 2010, the WHO predicted it would be "a few years yet" before eradication is achieved, on the basis that it took 6–12 years for the countries that have so far eliminated guinea worm transmission to do so after reporting a similar number of cases to that reported by Sudan in 2009. [45] Cases in 2015 are less than 1% of the number in 2009, so real progress has been made towards this prediction. Nonetheless, the last 1% may be the hardest. [41] Yaws Yaws is a rarely fatal but highly disfiguring disease caused by the spiral-shaped bacterium ( spirochete ) Treponema pallidum pertenue, a relative of the syphilis bacteria Treponema pallidum pallidum, spread through skin to skin contact with infectious lesions.

The global prevalence of this disease and the other endemic treponematoses, bejel and pinta , was reduced by the Global Control of Treponematoses (TCP) programme between 1952 and 1964 from about 50 million cases to about 2.5 million (a 95% reduction). However, following the cessation of this program these diseases remained at a low prevalence in parts of Asia, Africa and the Americas with sporadic outbreaks. According to the new official WHO roadmap, the elimination should be achieved by 2020. [47] [50] Yaws is currently targeted by the South-East Asian Regional Office of the WHO for elimination from the remaining endemic countries in this region ( India , Indonesia and East Timor ) by 2010, and so far, this appears to have met with some success, since no cases have been seen in India since 2004.

[54] [55] The discovery that oral antibiotic azithromycin can be used instead of the previous standard, injected penicillin, was tested on Lihir Island from 2013-2014; [56] a single oral dose of the macrolide antibiotic reduced disease prevalance from 2.4% to 0.3% at 12 months. [58] The campaign was in an early stage in 2013, still gathering data on disease incidence and planning initial large-scale treatment campaigns in Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. [59] Malaria Malaria elimination has already been achieved in most of Europe , North America , Australia , North Africa and the Caribbean , and parts of South America , Asia and Southern Africa , according to the Malaria Elimination Group at UCSF. [60] The WHO defines elimination as having no domestic transmission for the past three years. They also define an "elimination stage" when a country is on the verge of eliminating malaria, as being <1 case per 1000 people at risk per year.

According to the 2011 WHO World Malaria Report, [61] 28 countries are certified as having eliminated malaria. Eight countries appear to be malaria free but steps still need to be taken to ensure they do not re-establish transmission. Nine countries are in the elimination stage and eight the pre-elimination stage (<5 cases per 1000 people at risk per year). [61] At the Gates Foundation Malaria Forum in October 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates called for a new plan for malaria eradication, by going as far as possible with existing tools while also investing in new ones. [64] [65] Nearly a year later, on 25 September 2008, the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership unveiled the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) , in which a series of measures were proposed to eliminate malaria as a global public health concern by 2015, eliminate all malaria transmission within 8–10 countries by the same deadline, and build towards its eventual global eradication.

[66] The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) was formed in 2012, "to provide strategic advice and technical input to WHO on all aspects of malaria control and elimination". [67] In November 2013, WHO and the malaria vaccine funders group set a goal to develop vaccines designed to interrupt malaria transmission with the long-term goal of malaria eradication. [68] Regional elimination established or under way Some diseases have already been eliminated from large regions of the world, and/or are currently being targeted for regional elimination. This is sometimes described as "eradication", although technically the term only applies when this is achieved on a global scale. [7] Even after regional elimination is successful, interventions often need to continue to prevent a disease becoming re-established. Three of the diseases here listed (lymphatic filariasis, measles, and rubella) are among the diseases believed to be potentially eradicable by the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, and if successful, regional elimination programs may yet prove a stepping stone to later global eradication programs.

This section does not cover elimination where it is used to mean control programs sufficiently tight to reduce the burden of an infectious disease or other health problem to a level where they may be deemed to have little impact on public health , such as the leprosy , neonatal tetanus , or obstetric fistula campaigns. Hookworm In North American countries, such as the United States , elimination of hookworm had been attained due to scientific advances. The Rockefeller Foundation 's hookworm campaign in the 1920s was supposed to focus on the eradication of hookworm infections for those living in Mexico and other rural areas. However, the campaign was politically influenced, causing it to be less successful, and regions such as Mexico still deal with these infections from parasitic worms . This use of health campaigns by political leaders for political and economic advantages has been termed the science-politics paradox. [7] Lymphatic filariasis Lymphatic filariasis is an infection of the lymph system by mosquito-borne microfilarial worms which can cause elephantiasis . Studies have demonstrated that transmission of the infection can be broken when a single dose of combined oral medicines is consistently maintained annually for approximately seven years.

[73] The strategy for eliminating transmission of lymphatic filariasis is mass distribution of medicines that kill the microfilariae and stop transmission of the parasite by mosquitoes in endemic communities. [73] In sub-Saharan Africa , albendazole is being used with ivermectin to treat the disease, whereas elsewhere in the world albendazole is used with diethylcarbamazine . [7] Using a combination of treatments better reduces the number of microfilariae in blood. [73] Avoiding mosquito bites, such as by using insecticide -treated mosquito bed nets , also reduces the transmission of lymphatic filariasis. [73] [75] In the Americas, >90% of the burden of lymphatic filariasis is on the island of Hispaniola (comprising Haiti and the Dominican Republic). An elimination effort to address this is currently under way alongside the malaria effort described above; the Dominican Republic expects to eliminate its seven remaining foci by 2010, but lymphatic filariasis is still endemic to 110 of 140 communes in Haiti.

[76] As of October 2008, the efforts of the Global Programme to Eliminate LF are estimated to have already prevented 6.6 million new filariasis cases from developing in children, and to have stopped the progression of the disease in another 9.5 million people who have already contracted it. Overall, of 83 endemic countries, mass treatment has been rolled out in 48, and elimination of transmission reportedly achieved in 21. [77] Measles Five out of six WHO regions have goals to eliminate measles , and at the 63rd World Health Assembly in May 2010, delegates agreed to move towards eventual eradication, although no specific global target date has yet been agreed. [78] [79] [7] The Americas set a goal in 1994 to eliminate measles and rubella transmission by 2000, and successfully achieved regional measles elimination in 2002, although there have been occasional small outbreaks from imported cases since then.

[8] Europe had set a goal to eliminate measles transmission by 2010, but were hindered by the MMR vaccine controversy and by low uptake in certain groups, and despite achieving low levels by 2008, European countries have since experienced a small resurgence in cases. They have set a new target of 2015. [8] The Eastern Mediterranean also had goals to eliminate measles by 2010 (later revised to 2015), the Western Pacific aims to eliminate the disease by 2012, and in 2009 the regional committee for Africa agreed a goal of measles elimination by 2020. As of May 2010, only the South-East Asian region has yet to set a target date for elimination of measles transmission. [78] In 2005, a global target was agreed for a 90% reduction in measles deaths by 2010 from the 757,000 deaths in 2000; estimates for 2008 show a 78% decline so far to 164,000 deaths.

[8] However, some have been pushing to attempt global eradication. [8] This was updated at the 2010 World Health Assembly to a targeted 95% reduction in mortality by 2015, alongside specific vaccination and structural targets, [78] [79] and in a meeting in November 2010, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization "concluded that measles can and should be eradicated". [86] A study of the costs of eradicating measles compared to the costs of maintaining indefinite control was commissioned in 2009 by the WHO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. [8] In 2013, measles deaths globally were down to 145,700. [8] As of mid 2013, measles elimination in many areas is stalling. "This year, measles and rubella outbreaks are occurring in many areas of the world where people have no immunity to these viruses. The reasons people are unvaccinated range from lack of access to vaccines in areas of insecurity, to poor performing health systems, to vaccine refusals.

We need to address each of these challenges if we’re going to meet global measles and rubella elimination goals," said Dr. Myrna Charles of the American Red Cross, as reported in a post in the Measles and Rubella Initiative's blog. [8] A look at the WHO’s epidemiological graph of measles over time from 2008-2013 show that, with little more of two years to go to 2015, measles cases in 2013 are moving in the wrong direction, with more cases this year than at the same point in 2012 or 2011. [8] During 2014 there were 23 outbreaks of measles in the USA and over 600 individual cases, which is the highest seen in decades. In 2015 the US has had one major outbreak of measles originating from an amusement park in California of a variant of the virus circulating in the Philippines in 2014. From this there have been 113 individual measles cases and one death (out of the total of 189 cases in the U.S. in 2015).

[8] [9] Rubella The WHO region of the Americas declared on 29 April 2015 it had eliminated rubella and congenital rubella syndrome. [93] The last confirmed endemic case of rubella in the Americas was in Argentina in February 2009. [93] [94] The WHO European region missed its elimination target of 2010 due to undervaccination in Central and Western Europe; it has set a new goal of 2015. [9] The disease remains problematic in other regions; in Japan, there were 15,000 cases in 2013. [93] Onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is the world's second leading cause of infectious blindness . It is caused by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus, which is transmitted to people via the bite of a black fly . Elimination of this disease is under way in the region of the Americas, where this disease is endemic to Brazil , Colombia , Ecuador , Guatemala , Mexico and Venezuela . The principal tool being used is mass ivermectin treatment.

If successful, the only remaining endemic locations would be in Africa and Yemen . [96] In Africa, it is estimated that greater than 102 million people in 19 countries are at high risk of onchocerciasis infection, and in 2008, 56.7 million people in 15 of these countries received community-directed treatment with ivermectin. Since adopting such treatment measures in 1997, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control reports a reduction in the prevalence of onchocerciasis in the countries under its mandate from a pre-intervention level of 46.5% in 1995 to 28.5% in 2008. [97] Some African countries, such as Uganda , [9] are also attempting elimination and successful elimination was reported in 2009 from two endemic foci in Mali and Senegal . [9] On 29 July 2013, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced that after 16 years of efforts, Colombia had become the first country in the world to eliminate the parasitic disease onchocerciasis.

[9] Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) Following an epidemic of vCJD in the UK in the 1990s, there have been campaigns to eliminate BSE in cattle across the EU and beyond which appear to have achieved large reductions in the number of cattle with this disease. [9] Cases of vCJD have also fallen since then, for instance from an annual peak of 29 cases in 2000 to 5 cases in 2008 and zero in 2012. However, since then 2 cases have been reported in both 2013 and 2014: 2 in France; 1 in the United Kingdom; and 1 in the United States. [102] [103] Following the ongoing eradication effort, only 7 cases of BSE were reported worldwide in 2013: 3 in the United Kingdom; 2 in France; 1 in Ireland; and 1 in Poland. This is the lowest number of cases since at least 1988.

[104] [105] In 2015 there were at least 6 reported cases (3 were of the atypical H-type). Syphilis In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eradicate mother-to-child syphilis. [106] Rabies Because the rabies virus is almost always caught from animals, rabies eradication has focused on reducing the population of wild and stray animals, controls and compulsory quarantine on animals entering the country, and vaccination of pets and wild animals. Many island nations , including Iceland , Ireland , Japan , Malta and the United Kingdom managed to eradicate rabies during the twentieth century, and more recently much of continental Europe has been declared rabies-free. [107] Other eradicable diseases As far as animal diseases are concerned, now that rinderpest has been stamped out, many experts believe peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is the next disease amenable to global eradication.

Also known as goat plague or ovine rinderpest , PPR is a highly contagious viral disease of goats and sheep characterized by fever, painful sores in the mouth, tongue and feet, diarrhea, pneumonia and death, especially in young animals. It is caused by a virus of the genus Morbillivirus that is related to rinderpest, measles and canine distemper . [110] Health: Significant breakthroughs in medical history - Life and style Health: Significant breakthroughs in medical history By A Correspondent | Posted 11-Jan-2016 Now Available on the mid-day iOS App, Download Now Canadian physician Frederick Banting and medical student Charles H. Best are credited with the first medical success of insulin's use in the treatment of diabetes. Banting and Best developed insulin for human treatment with the help of Canadian chemist James B. Collip and Scottish physiologist J.J.R. Macleod. Picture for representational purposes They were able to make a important breakthrough when 14-year-old Leonard Thompson, a boy suffering from type 1 diabetes, who was close to death bounced backed to life after getting injected with insulin.

Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923. Other groundbreaking milestones in medicine... The discovery of anaesthesia Anaesthesia. Pic for representational purposes William Thomas Green Morton. Pic/YouTube American dentist William Thomas Green Morton performed a painless tooth extraction after administering ether to a patient on September 30 of the same year. This inspired surgeon Henry Jacob Bigelow, who read a favourable news report of this account to invite him for the now-famous demonstration at the operating theater of the Massachusetts General Hospital, or MGH. An illustration of the historic event. Pic/YouTube Dr. John Collins Warren painlessly removed a tumor from the neck of a Mr. Edward Gilbert Abbott during the demonstration. The hospital's operation theatre was later renamed the Ether Dome after this event. Morton used a special glass inhaler to administer the ether before the surgery. The discovery made it possible for patients to obtain the benefits of surgical treatment without the pain associated with an operation. The term 'anesthesia' was suggested by physician and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr in a letter to Morton. He also urged him to call the procedure an 'anaesthetic'. Morton had earlier used ether while performing a tooth extraction.

Pic/YouTube The first use of ether as an anesthetic is commemorated in the Ether Monument in the Boston Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts and William Thomas Green Morton's life and work were later to become the subject of the 1944 film, 'The Great Moment'. The smallpox virus was eradicted on this day, December 9 in 1979. It marks the first and to date only human disease to be driven to extinction. 3D representation of the smallpox virus Smallpox vaccine English physician and scientist Edward Jenner introduced the smallpox vaccine, the first successful vaccine to be developed in 1798. He followed up his observation that milkmaids who had previously caught cowpox did not later catch smallpox by showing that inoculated cowpox protected against inoculated smallpox. Edward Jenner Smallpox was eradicated by a massive international search for outbreaks, backed up with a vaccination program, starting in 1967. It was organised and co-ordinated by a World Health Organisation (WHO) unit, set up and headed by Donald Henderson.

The last case in the Americas occurred in 1971 (Brazil), south-east Asia (Indonesia) in 1972, and on the Indian subcontinent in 1975 (Bangladesh). After two years' of intensive searches, what proved to be the last endemic case anywhere in the world occurred in Somalia, in October 1977. A Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication chaired by Frank Fenner examined the evidence from, and visited where necessary, all countries where smallpox had been endemic. In December 1979 they concluded that smallpox had been eradicated; a conclusion endorsed by the WHO General Assembly in May 1980. HIV cured in baby for first time In a breakthrough, a two-year-old baby girl in the US born with HIV has been "functionally cured" for the first time, scientists have said. US Researchers said they believe early intervention, in this case within 30 hours of birth -- with three anti-viral drugs was key to the outcome. A "functional cure" is when the presence of the virus is so small, life-long treatment is not necessary and standard clinical tests cannot detect the virus in the blood.

(Read more) In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) One of the biggest breakthroughs in treating infertility came in 1978 when the first test tube baby was born with the process of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Representational picture The biggest drawback of lVF was encountered in patients with low sperm counts. This was overcome in 1992 with the introduction of the new technique called Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). Bloom IVF group introduced ICSI in 1996 and started an advanced centre at the Lilavati Hospital, Bandra in 1998. Since then the group has made hundreds of childless couples happy by gifting them, a priceless baby. (Read more) The X-ray machine The X-ray machine was named the most important scientific invention, in a poll marking the centenary of the Science Museum in London. Discovered in 1895 by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen it revolutionised how doctors detected disease and injury. Representational picture Röntgen discovered its medical use when he made a picture of his wife's hand on a photographic plate formed due to X-rays.

The photograph of his wife's hand was the first photograph of a human body part using X-rays. Katie Maggs, associate curator of medicine at the Science Museum, attributed the X-ray machine's popularity to the wide impact it has on people's everyday life, from the very first steps of a medical diagnosis to security control at airports. Penicillin Sir Alexander Fleming a Scottish biologist, pharmacologist and botanist discovered the antibiotic substance penicillin from the mould Penicillium notatum in 1928, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain. Fleming was the first to suggest that the Penicillium mould must secrete an antibacterial substance, and the first to concentrate the active substance which he named penicillin, but he was not the first to use its properties in medicine. Others involved in the mass production of penicillin include Ernst Chain, Howard Florey and Norman Heatley. Representational picture Penicillin antibiotics were among the first drugs to be effective against many previously serious diseases, such as bacterial infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci.

Penicillins are still widely used today, though misuse has now made many types of bacteria resistant. All penicillins are β-lactam antibiotics and are used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms. Several enhanced penicillin families also exist, effective against additional bacteria: these include the antistaphylococcal penicillins, aminopenicillins and the more-powerful antipseudomonal penicillins. Tags:

Question: In December 1979, which human disease was certified to be eradicated, the first driven to extinction?
Answer: Smallpox