From the 16th to the 18th centuries, smallpox ravaged populations across the globe, leaving a chilling legacy of death, suffering, and irreversible damage. It is estimated that smallpox claimed over 300 million lives during this period alone. The disease, caused by the variola virus, left no one untouched—whole communities were obliterated, and survivors often bore the physical scars of their ordeal.
In 1712, the city of London saw one of its worst outbreaks, with nearly 35,000 deaths recorded. For every person who died, countless others were left to suffer. One survivor, a woman named Mary, recounted, “I watched my children die, one by one, as the pox overtook them. There was nothing to do but wait for the inevitable.”
Smallpox was a terrifying disease. Victims would initially suffer from fever and body aches before their skin erupted with fluid-filled pustules, many of which left permanent scarring. It was a slow, agonizing process. Those who survived often carried the marks of their torment for the rest of their lives.
Across the Atlantic, in the Americas, the devastation was even worse. In 1520, smallpox was introduced to the Aztec Empire by European explorers. The disease spread like wildfire, wiping out nearly 50% of the population. Entire tribes were decimated, and ancient cultures were erased. The Inca Empire, too, was struck hard, with an estimated 200,000 of its people dying in a matter of months. “We never saw it coming,” one survivor wrote. “The pox came with the strangers and took everything from us.”
The indigenous peoples of the Americas had no immunity to smallpox. For them, it was a death sentence. Whole villages were wiped out, and survivors were left with nothing but memories of their former lives. The disease’s spread was so rapid that it often felt like a curse, a punishment from the gods. “We thought it was the end of the world,” one eyewitness recalled. “There was no escape.”
Smallpox did not just claim the lives of adults; it struck the young with particular brutality. In 1779, a smallpox outbreak in New York City resulted in the deaths of 3,000 children alone. One mother, who lost her son, wrote, “My heart broke as I held his lifeless body. There was nothing I could do. The pox took him in days.”
During this era, medical knowledge was woefully inadequate. Doctors were powerless against smallpox, often resorting to methods like bloodletting or the application of herbal concoctions—none of which proved effective. The “plague doctors,” with their long, beaked masks filled with herbs, were a haunting symbol of humanity’s desperation to find a cure. But these attempts were futile in the face of such a merciless disease.
As the disease spread, fear took hold of entire communities. Quarantines were imposed, but they often came too late to prevent widespread infection. The rich could afford to flee to the countryside, while the poor were left behind to face certain death. Entire families were wiped out in a matter of weeks. One observer noted, “There were no more weddings, no more births—just funerals. It felt as though the world was collapsing in on itself.”
By the time Edward Jenner developed the first smallpox vaccine in 1796, the disease had already claimed millions. However, it would take centuries before global efforts to eradicate smallpox succeeded. Even with the vaccine, smallpox continued to ravage populations until the World Health Organization launched its global eradication campaign in the 1960s. In 1980, smallpox was officially declared eradicated, but the scars—both physical and psychological—remain.
The personal tragedies from this era are countless. One story from 1714 tells of a father who watched his entire family perish from smallpox. “I could not save them,” he wrote. “I stood by as they suffered, unable to do anything but pray. The disease did not discriminate—it took them all, one by one.”
Smallpox’s legacy is one of unimaginable horror. It is a reminder of how vulnerable humanity can be in the face of such a devastating force. The disease’s toll was not just in the lives it claimed, but in the cultures it destroyed, the families it shattered, and the sense of security it obliterated.
Today, smallpox is gone, but the memories of its horrors linger, serving as a grim reminder that even in the face of medical progress, humanity’s dark history is never far behind. It is a chapter of suffering that must never be forgotten.