Smallpox

Hello. You probably don’t know who I am, and that is a wonderful, happy thing. My name is Smallpox. I am a sickness from a very, very long time ago. For thousands of years, I would visit people all around the big, wide world. I started my journey in a place called ancient Egypt, way back in the year 1157 BCE. When I visited someone, I would make them feel very warm with a fever. I also left behind little bumps on their skin. It was not very fun. For a long, long time, people were worried when they heard I was coming to their town. They wished for a way to make me go away and never come back. They wanted everyone to be healthy and strong.

But people are very smart and very brave. They looked and listened and learned. They noticed that milkmaids, the people who milked the friendly cows, got a very gentle sickness from the cows called cowpox. But after that, I could never, ever make them sick. A kind doctor named Edward Jenner thought that was a very big idea. On May 14th, 1796, he used that idea to create a special shield to protect people from me. This shield was called a vaccine. It was like a secret message that taught everyone’s body how to be strong against me. Over many years, lots of helpers all around the world shared this special shield. They gave it to moms and dads and little kids. Finally, in the year 1980, they had won. I was gone forever. My story is finished, and it has a happy ending because when people work together, they can solve big problems and keep everyone safe and sound.