Is smallpox set for a comeback?

Until very recently, the pantheons of the world’s religions swelled with gods and divine beings to ward off calamities. And none loomed so large as smallpox. From the inky beginnings of civilization, the disfiguring disease slowly spread over the entire Eurasian continent and North Africa. In the last millennium, smallpox alone has caused 10 percent of all human deaths, including half a billion in the 20th century. In China, the goddess T’ou-Shen Niang-Niang was feared; her capricious whim could disfigure or kill. She especially loved a pretty face, and during her festival nights, children would wear ugly masks to bed in hopes of fooling her. In India, Shitala Mata not only caused smallpox but was also its healer, using cool food and drink dyed red. This association with the color red would spread throughout the world. And erythrotherapy, as it was later known, was the subject of randomized controlled trials in the early 20th century. In Western Africa, the Yoruba worshipped Shapona, who would express his displeasure with outbreaks of smallpox. In Europe, St. Nicaise, the bishop of Rheims, recovered from the disease just as the invading Huns fell ill. They managed to conquer anyway, and beheaded the saint. From thereafter, his prayer could cure the disease, with the implicit threat of also being able to spread it to your enemies. And when the Europeans did just that to the New World, sometimes intentionally, new gods took root in a land previously without smallpox, like O...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs