The Big Red Book: Smallpox and its Eradication

Big Red Book

Note: The complete volume is large and may be difficult to download on some systems. Select a chapter from the Table of Contents or chapter descriptions below.

Smallpox and its Eradication

Frank Fenner, D.A. Henderson, Isao Arita, Zdeněk Ježek, Ivan D. Ladnyi
1460 pages; 480 tables; 268 figures; 375 plates (84 color)
10665/39485

Smallpox and its Eradication responds to the recommendation of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication that:

"the Director-General ... [will] ensure the production ... of appropriate publications describing smallpox and its eradication, in order to preserve the unique historical experience of eradication and thereby contribute to the development of other health programmes".

WHO ABSTRACT: The definitive history of the world's most triumphant achievement in medicine and public health. In 31 chapters, this monumental work recounts the history of one of humanity's worst diseases, moving from ancient times, through the discovery of vaccination, to the spectacular WHO-led campaign that finally vanquished the disease. Authored by experts personally involved in the eradication campaign, the book gives posterity a minutely detailed account of both how the disease once reigned and what was necessary, step by step and country by country, to eliminate the ancient scourge once and for all. Virtually everything ever known about the disease, and everything that happened during the global eradication campaign, has been collected and preserved in this richly illustrated account. For scientists and clinicians, Smallpox and its Eradication will serve as a complete and final review of knowledge on the clinical features, virology, pathology, immunology, and epidemiology of variola major and minor. For students of public health and medical history, the book offers access to a wealth of previously unpublished data and personal experiences that make up the saga of a public health event unprecedented in scope and unparalleled in the magnitude of its achievement. For posterity, Smallpox and its Eradication will serve, above all, as an inspiring reminder of the knowledge and efforts that transformed smallpox from a universally dreaded disease to one the world could safely forget.

Each author was deeply involved in the programme. Each reviewed and commented on multiple drafts of all chapters. In addition, 78 other persons, each an expert in an appropriate scientific field or with personal knowledge of a national eradication or certification programme, commented on chapter drafts.

Table of Contents
Chapters 1-4. Features of smallpox and the variola and vaccinia viruses
  • Chapter 1 (4.5 MB) — Clinical features of smallpox
  • Chapter 2 (3.1 MB) — Variola virus and other orthopoxviruses.
  • Chapter 3 (2.8 MB) — Pathogenesis, pathology, and immunology of variola virus (smallpox) and vaccinia virus (source of smallpox vaccine)
  • Chapter 4 (2.2 MB) — Epidemiology of smallpox
Chapters 5-8. History of smallpox and its control
  • Chapter 5 (2.3 MB) — History of smallpox and its spread around the world through the end of the 19th century
  • Chapter 6 (2.1 MB) — Early efforts at smallpox control: Variolation, vaccination, and isolation and quarantine
  • Chapter 7 (2.2 MB) — Developments in vaccination and control, 1900-1966
  • Chapter 8 (2.1 MB) — Incidence and control of smallpox, 1900-1958
Chapters 9-11. The global smallpox eradication programme
  • Chapter 9 (3.1 MB) — Development of a global smallpox eradication programme, 1958-1966
  • Chapter 10 (8.1 MB) — The Intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme, 1967-1980 (includes annual world maps, graphs, and summary)
  • Chapter 11 (2.9 MB) — Smallpox vaccine and vaccination in the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme
Chapters 12-23. Programme operations by area or country
  • Chapter 12 (1.7 MB) — South America
  • Chapter 13 (1.6 MB) — Indonesia
  • Chapter 14 (2.8 MB) — Afghanistan and Pakistan
  • Chapter 15 (5.2 MB) — India and the Himalayan Area
  • Chapter 16 (2.3 MB) — Bangladesh
  • Chapter 17 (3.6 MB) — Western and Central Africa
  • Chapter 18 (2.0 MB) — Zaire and Sudan
  • Chapter 19 (1.4 MB) — Eastern Africa: Kenya, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi
  • Chapter 20 (1.6 MB) — Southern Africa
  • Chapter 21 (2.5 MB) — Ethiopia, Yemen, and Democratic Yemen
  • Chapter 22 (1.9 MB) — Somalia and Djibouti
  • Chapter 23 (1.8 MB) — Smallpox in non-endemic countries: Importations and outbreaks, 1959-1978
Chapters 24-27. The process of certification of eradication
  • Chapter 24 (2.4 MB) — Certification of eradication: Concepts, strategy and tactics
  • Chapter 25 (2.3 MB) — Certification by International Commissions, 1973-1977
  • Chapter 26 (1.7 MB) — Certification of 29 countries of Africa and Asia, 1978-1979
  • Chapter 27 (2.1 MB) — Completion of global certification: The Horn of Africa and China
Chapters 28-31. Considerations after the eradication of smallpox
  • Chapter 28 (1.3 MB) — Post-eradication operations: Implementation of the 19 recommendations of the Global Commission
  • Chapter 29 (2.0 MB) — Human monkeypox and other poxvirus infections of man
  • Chapter 30 (1.3 MB) — Potential sources for a return of smallpox
  • Chapter 31 (2.2 MB) — Lessons and benefits: Principles and lessons, costs and benefits, implications for the future
Indices