1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak | |
---|---|
Disease | Smallpox |
Virus strain | Variola |
Location | SAP Kosovo and Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
Index case | A Muslim pilgrim from SAP Kosovo |
Dates | 16 February - 11 April 1972[1] |
Confirmed cases | 175[1] |
Deaths | 35[1] |
The 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak was the largest outbreak of smallpox in Europe after the Second World War.[1] It was centered in SAP Kosovo, a province of Serbia within Yugoslavia, and the capital city of Belgrade. A Kosovar Albanian Muslim pilgrim had contracted the smallpox virus in the Middle East. Upon returning to his home in Kosovo, he started the epidemic in which 175 people were infected, killing 35. The epidemic was efficiently contained by enforced quarantine and mass vaccination. The 1982 film Variola Vera is based on the event.[2]