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
Qapqal disease Qapqal disease Qapqal disease was a infectious disease among Sibe people in Qapqal, Xinjiang, China. The local endemic outbreaks were first reported in 1958, and they were eradicated soon after the identification of them as cases type A botulism. After the liberation of 1949, a mysterious plague was noticed to be affecting severy Sibe villages in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County. It was endemic with distinctive epidemic patterns, yet the underlying cause remained unknown for a long period of time. It caused a number of deaths and forced some people to leave the place. In 1958, a team of experts were