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Witness History: Europe's last smallpox epidemic

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23/11/2021 GMT

Europe's last smallpox epidemic

BBC World Service - Witness History, Europe's last smallpox epidemic

The virologist who helped tackle the last smallpox outbreak in Europe

Dr Ana Gligic, a virologist in the former Yugoslavia, helped stop an epidemic of smallpox in Europe. Eighteen million people were vaccinated to contain the outbreak in 1972.

Eighteen million people were vaccinated against smallpox in the former communist Yugoslavia in only a month and a half in 1972. The mass vaccination campaign succeeded in containing the last smallpox epidemic in Europe. Dr Ana Gligic was a virologist who detected the first cases of the disease and helped tackle the outbreak. 
 
 
PHOTO: A smallpox patient in Yugoslavia in 1972 (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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