Smallpox or Variola Rex, a disease that has caused many problems
in recent history, during War and important historical events can be defined
as: an acute contagious viral disease with fever and pustules usually leaving
permanent scars. This disease affected many people and made it hard different
people to live and stay free of the disease in their own civilizations. In year
1902 across the state of Indiana the smallpox epidemic was taking over once
more. When first discovering the disease, it goes back to ancient years through
India being contracted from Portuguese and traveling to North America during
early colonization between the years 1635. The year the Native Americans met
the Settlers coming from the Mayflower. After the early discovery of the Native
American race and the contraction of the disease, Boston and the colonization
of Africa became tuned into the disease killing hundreds of people. The
Smallpox disease originally named Variola Rex has been around over 1200 years
and if looked into further dated back 3000 years in the Egyptian era. Since
then there have been vaccinations and numerous discoveries helping physicians
and scientists understand what and how this disease affects people and best
ways to try and cure it. Though vaccinations for the disease have been found
and helped the communities affected in previous history, Indiana was next in
line to contract the Smallpox disease, hitting places like Indianapolis,
Knightstown, and Evansville etc. like wildfire the disease spread through these
parts of Indiana creating a number of cases and thousands of casualties.
Origin of Smallpox
Like introduced previously, the origins of smallpox was
introduced by ancient times dated back 1200 years ago from different countries
and ethnicities. Ancient Chinese were first introduced to the virus back in
1000 BC when the son of a Chinese Statesman was affected by the smallpox virus.
Due to the practice of healing and the different ancient Chinese methods they
developed an inoculation against the disease by taking liquid from one of the
affected pustules and placing it on a person who wasn’t affected by the
disease. With that, Egypt was known as one of the biggest regions to be
affected by this epidemic. Going back to the Nile of Egypt and the
ramifications of individuals named Pharaoh and nobles it was discovered that
the largely unknown epidemics that the Egyptians faced compared to the symptoms
of smallpox. Not only did scientist find that the smallpox related to Egyptians
but it was dated back to being an active disease to 3000 years ago. As the
timeline for smallpox continues, it is said that it could have easily been
distributed to the country India during the first millennium bc (pg. 211). A British physician of East India proclaimed
that the disease was mentioned in the most ancient writings of Indian history
(pg.211). He mentioned Masurika, the Indian word for smallpox was found in many
parts of India dated before the Christian era. After being discovered back in
ancient history, the disease spread to the African era.
Parts of early Western
Africa were introduced to the disease by traveling in coastal ports. Although
the disease was spread through early Africa smallpox was also contracted during
the slave trade in Central Africa by the slaves being traded and maneuvered
around in caravans between the Europeans. The disease then spread to eastern
Africa down to South Africa in the 1840s. After seeing that this disease was
fatal and complicated the slave trade and affected many of the slaves the
Europeans decided to investigate a cure or vaccine for the disease.
The state of Boston was
affected as well. Killing an average of 844 people. During the 1721 epidemic of
smallpox in Boston a physician by the name of Zabdiel Boylston presented a
variolation to the people of Boston who then passed it on to the Americas. The
vaccine saved a lot of people of Boston, but killed a total of six people due
to the harsh chemicals. Famous individuals in the early 17th century had been
affected by the disease in negative ways as well. Benjamin Franklin, whose son died when he was
just four years old, contracted the disease and died in 1726. The disease was
fatal and there were ways to treat it by vaccine, but it was not perfected.
Smallpox of Variola was discovered from different parts of countries and in
ancient history descending its way to Indiana. These were different times the
epidemic affected large amounts of people through different generations and
years. Although vaccines were invented and ancient methods were used, the
disease continued to spread.
The cases for smallpox began to come back toward
the beginning of the 19th century. Where it was tracked in the state of
Indiana. One of the places in Indiana the disease was contracted in was
Knightstown. A small town with a population of 2,182. Scientists and physicians
of the health department began to discover several different cases within the
county and discovered that the disease of smallpox that had been a segment of
many different vaccines wasn’t over and was spreading rapidly.
Knightstown, Indiana: The community before smallpox, Charles D.
Morgan and the “Pest House”
In the late 1800’s a man by the name of Charles D. Morgan
discovered that his wife had been affected by the smallpox virus. Due to this
discovery Morgan decided to move to Knightstown to get more help and determine
how to cure his wife of the disease, they were recommended to go to the “pest
house” a health facility that was developed due to the epidemic of smallpox
this house made up of 17 rooms became the research center to help fight the
once again rising epidemic. Although this was a place that helped try to
vaccinate and cure the disease from the people, it was still contracted to
many. Shortly after arriving to Knightstown to try and understand more of wa
cure or vaccine for the disease. The state of Boston was affected as well.
Killing an average of 844 people. During the 1721 epidemic of smallpox in
Boston a physician by the name of Zabdiel Boylston presented a variolation to
the people of Boston who then passed it on to the Americas. The vaccine saved a
lot of people of Boston, but killed a total of six people due to the harsh
chemicals. Famous individuals in the early 17th century had been affected by
the disease in negative ways as well.
Benjamin franklin, whose son died when he was just four years old,
contracted the disease and died in 1726. The disease was fatal and there were
ways to treat it by vaccine, but it was not perfected. Smallpox of Variola was
discovered from different parts of countries and in ancient history descending
its way to Indiana. These were different times the epidemic affected large
amounts of people through different generations and years. Although vaccines
were invented and ancient methods were used, the disease continued to spread.
The cases for smallpox began to come back toward the beginning of the 19th
century. Where it was tracked in the state of Indiana. One of the places in
Indiana the disease was contracted in was Knightstown. A small town with a
population of 2,182. Scientists and physicians of the health department began
to discover several different cases within the county and discovered that the
disease of smallpox that had been a segment of many different vaccines
In the late 1800’s a man by the name of Charles D. Morgan
discovered that his wife had been affected by the smallpox virus. Due to this
discovery Morgan decided to move to Knightstown to what was happening to his
wife, she died because the disease was too advanced and fatal to
vaccinate. After the development of the
“pest house” and the death of Morgan’s wife in the late 1800s, the cases in
Knightstown Indiana grew rapidly and increased faster because of how small the
town was and how closely people of the town were connected. If one home was
affected by the disease, then families of the same household would easily be
affected. As a result of people getting
quickly affected by the disease, Knightstown conducted a quarantine brought on
by the health department. Under these conditions the town decided to close the
gates to the town so no one would get in or out of the town. They decided to
try to cure the cases that were already happening and keep people not affected
by the disease out of the town or in separate parts of the town. Although they
took these drastic measures, the virus began to spread throughout the small
town of Indiana making it harder to save people and killing hundreds of town
members. While chaos happened in Knightstown in early January things died down
by early August. The town seemed to be going back to the usual routine, lifting
the quarantine, and remembering all the people that were lost due to the fatal
disease.
On the other hand, while Knightstown tried to uncover the
cure of the disease it was only the beginning stages for the state of Indiana.
Other places in Indiana
were affected too:
Other parts of Indiana
were affected also. Evansville and various places near Muncie, Indiana
Moving to Richmond and other places in Indiana. In a reading,
called the Monthly State Bulletin “Indiana State Board of Health” produced by
Indianapolis health officials in 1902 addresses the Indiana State health facts
regarding smallpox, in this article, 298 cases were found and percentages from
the previous year of 1902 became higher. The article gives the cases in every
county that was taken over by the epidemic in Indiana. The Bulletin describes a
case to a girl had been a part of. Traveling from Hamilton Ohio, she went to
Indianapolis to try to get a better understand of why she was feeling feverish
and what exactly was happening to her. Although she was diagnosed with the
smallpox disease by the physicians of the Indianapolis Health Department, she
went away in disbelief going back to Hamilton, Ohio consequently spreading the
disease further. As the article or newspaper continues with statistical facts
it introduces more cases spreading to different small towns in Indiana.
Creating more sickness and patients that were being brought to the health
physicians to help cure. The newsletter was a warning for those across Indiana
to be aware of the fast growing disease.
Though it was affecting many parts of
Indiana like, Clinton county of Indiana through Brownsburg Indiana and many
more, the physicians announced ways the disease could easily be stopped.
Disinfecting was a major part of the vaccination process. After the physicians
were introduced to the girl or member from Hamilton, Ohio they burned the
sheets and the bedding they used to diagnose her. The physicians strongly
recommended that the town members and the state of Indiana would take
precautions and get everyone vaccinated that needed it and weren’t affected by
the disease. This was an urgent report reaching every part of Indiana because
the disease was spreading outrageously. They not only warned the different
parts of the state to be sanitary, the physicians gave them a clear mapped out
list to complete in each town to protect and keep them away from the virus.
Each county got this bulletin in the state of Indiana asking them to perform
different tasks so that the towns could rid themselves of the virus and keep
the affection from spreading to other places. The disease began to calm after
people of the different towns started to listen to the health officials and
understand the importance of each step that had to take to keep their towns
safe. The disease killed thousands of people and affected a lot of families.
Research continued to perfect the vaccines that the affected were given and
also vaccines to help prevent others from getting affected. Toward the end of
the 19th century, physicians and scientists worked together to finally develop
a vaccine that could actually cure smallpox all together. In the years prior,
in ancient times with the Egyptians, China, Africa, India and Boston the viral
disease continued and hit Indiana. Although the vaccines weren’t perfected, and
also killed people, the year of 1902 the disease in Indiana was fatal and
quarantines were required but it wasn’t as bad as it was before. Progress was
made with smallpox and the average of the people who died from it was lowering
each year. Indiana was hit hard with this epidemic, it leaked into different
towns and made its way into places, scientists and physicians didn’t see
coming.
What if we were affected with Smallpox?
Imagine if the year of
2014 was affected by this smallpox disease? Yes, it would be very easy to treat
and rid people of the disease. Early Indiana didn’t have the privilege, but
they made do with what they had. Is smallpox still around today? Scientists and
physicians worked hard to remove the disease from countries that were affected.
There had been talk in the year 2003 that the vaccine for the smallpox disease
should be implemented in the vaccination process but could’ve been a negative
thing due to other government officials using it as a decoy to destroy lives in
battle. Indiana overcame the disease, they lost people on the way, families
were infected and even the vaccine didn’t help to cure everyone from this highly
contagious disease but as research and testing went on the disease became a
more of a distant memory to the state of Indiana. The scientist and physicians
of the different health departments located in Indiana worked hard and a lot of
them dedicated their lives because they were infected by the disease and wanted
to discover what the best way was to help the people of Indiana. Because of the
research these scientists and physicians did, there was a proper vaccine to
help cure thousands of people who were infected in the state of Indiana.
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