<p>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 ... Show More
Today
The cellist who survived Auschwitz-Birkenau
In 1943, the cellist, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. She expected to be killed in the gas chambers but survived because she was recruited to play in an orchestra set up by the women prisoners. In 2015, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch told Sim ... Show More
10m 16s
May 2025
Lab Leak: Could Smallpox Come Back?
In 1978 the world is on the brink of declaring victory over smallpox. No cases have been seen for months, and it looks like the end for a deadly, painful disease. When a photographer in Birmingham begins to feel ill, doctors are mystified: it looks like smallpox, but how could sh ... Show More
37m 53s
Aug 2023
'Speedboat Epidemiology': Eradicating Disease One Person At A Time
Smallpox is a deadly virus. At one point, it killed almost 1 in 3 people who had it. Almost 300 million of those deaths were in the 20th century alone. It was extremely painful, highly contagious and many people thought it would be impossible to wipe out—until it was. On May 8, 1 ... Show More
12m 28s
May 2020
To Fight a Virus, and Win
May 14, 1796. Edward Jenner puts a theory to the test: can contracting one disease save you from another? Jenner goes down in history as the man who brought us one of the greatest advances in modern medicine: the vaccine. Its discovery led to the eradication of smallpox, a virus ... Show More
26m 43s