WHO: Investigating four suspected cases of smallpox in eastern Uganda
March 25th, 2010 - 4:03 pm ICT by BNO NewsGENEVA (BNO NEWS) — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said it is investigating four suspected cases of smallpox in eastern Uganda. Smallpox is a highly infectious disease which was last seen in 1978, but the organization said it is uncertain of the credibility of the report.
“We have reports of cases of smallpox in eastern Uganda,” said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for WHO. He said the information comes from local media reports in Uganda, and is currently following up to verify. Hartl said it was awaiting information from the Uganda Ministry of Health. The reported outbreak is in the Bududa district.
Hartl said the last confirmed cases of smallpox were in 1978, which were caused by a laboratory accident in Birmingham, England. That infection killed one person, and infected some others. The last natural case of smallpox occured in Somalia in 1977. The World Health Assembly officially declared smallpox eradicated in smallpox.
The disease is estimated to have killed up to 500 million people in the 20th century, and many others before. Among those killed were Queen Mary II of England, Emperor Joseph I of Austria, and others. The WHO says the death toll for 1967, was about two million.
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