History of smallpox centuries, the WHO certified the global eradication of smallpox in December 1979. Smallpox is one of two infectious diseases to have been eradicated, the other being rinderpest, which was declared eradicated in 2011. It has been suggested that smallpox was a major component of the Plague of Athens that occurred in 430 BCE, during the Peloponnesian Wars, and was described by Thucydides. Galen's description of the Antonine Plague, which swept through the Roman Empire in 165–180, indicates that it was probably caused by smallpox. Returning soldiers brought the disease home with them to Syria and Italy, where it raged for
Alliance for Zero Extinction Alliance for Zero Extinction Formed in 2000 and launched globally in 2005, the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) comprises 100 non-governmental biodiversity conservation organizations working to prevent species extinctions by identifying and safeguarding sites where species evaluated to be Endangered or Critically Endangered under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria only exist at one location on earth. AZE members work to rebuild populations of endangered and critically endangered species through efforts to eliminate human threats such as commercial exploitation, disease and the introduction of invasive species. AZE provides expertise on biodiversity goals for the Convention on Biological Diversity