Vaccination disease people tried to prevent by inoculation and was the first disease for which a vaccine was produced. The smallpox vaccine was invented in 1796 by English physician Edward Jenner and although at least six people had used the same principles years earlier he was the first to publish evidence that it was effective and to provide advice on its production. Louis Pasteur furthered the concept through his work in microbiology. The immunization was called "vaccination" because it was derived from a virus affecting cows ( 'cow'). Smallpox was a contagious and deadly disease, causing the deaths of 20–60% of
1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak The 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak was the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe. It was centred in Kosovo and Belgrade (both then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). A Muslim pilgrim had contracted the smallpox virus in the Middle East. Upon returning to his home in Kosovo, he started the epidemic in which 175 people were infected, 35 of whom died. The epidemic was efficiently contained by enforced quarantine and mass vaccination. The 1982 film "Variola Vera" is based on the event. By 1972, vaccination for smallpox had long been widely available and