It all started with an unremarkable trip to grandma’s house in 1970. But two days into the visit, something went terribly wrong. The 9-month-old grandson fell ill. First, a fever. Then, a nasty rash.

As the world waits anxiously for a COVID-19 vaccine, Sam Lemley, curator of special collections at Carnegie Mellon University, says that the story of the first vaccine is worth revisiting today. As ...

President Bush on Friday announced America's Smallpox vaccination plan. Minnesota... President Bush on Friday announced America's Smallpox vaccination plan. Minnesota State Epidemiologist Harry Hull ...

Smallpox was a severe infectious disease that affected humans for thousands of years before its eradication in the late 20th century. The symptoms included a distinctive rash, pustules, and fever.

A vaccination kit from the American Civil War. Image courtesy of McMaster University Robert Hicks, then the director of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, was giving a tour to a new employee when he ...

The news was terrifying to colonists in Massachusetts: Smallpox had made it to Boston and was spreading rapidly. The first victims, passengers on a ship from the Caribbean, were shut up in a house ...

Scientists have found smallpox viruses in the remains of people in Chile from around 500 years ago, revealing how the virus may have evolved into a global killer. For the first time, scientists have ...

Smallpox was a terrible scourge on humanity, killing hundreds of millions of people over the centuries. But its origin remains obscure. Egyptian mummies from 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, including that ...