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
Extinction considered in regards to non-human species extinction. The poliovirus is now confined to small parts of the world due to extermination efforts. "Dracunculus medinensis", a parasitic worm which causes the disease dracunculiasis, is now close to eradication thanks to efforts led by the Carter Center. "Treponema pallidum pertenue", a bacterium which causes the disease yaws, is in the process of being eradicated. Biologist Olivia Judson has advocated the deliberate extinction of certain disease-carrying mosquito species. In a September 25, 2003 article in "The New York Times", she advocated "specicide" of thirty mosquito species by introducing a genetic element which can