logo sitemap Home Big Red Book Memoirs & More Resources About
Documents | By Region & Country | South-East Asia

South-East Asia Region

Summary & Regional Information


For more information, see:
Smallpox and Its Eradication (Fenner et al, WHO, 1988)

Summary of Smallpox Status

Country Last endemic case Importations during SEP Certification Method Document
Bangladesh (East Pakistan)1 1970, 1975 None post-1975 14 Dec 1977 Intl Commission SEA/Smallpox/84
Bhutan 1920 1967, 1968, 1973, 1974 22 Apr 1977 Intl Commission SEA/Smallpox/80
India 1975 None post-1975 23 Apr 1977 Intl Commission SEA/Smallpox/78
Indonesia 1972 None post-1972 25 Apr 1974 Intl Commission WHO/SE/74.68
Myanmar (Burma)2 1965 1968, 1969 30 Nov 1977 Intl Commission SEA/Smallpox/83
Nepal 1975 None post-1975 13 Apr 1977 Intl Commission SEA/Smallpox/80
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)3 1951 1967, 1972 Official statement of smallpox-free status
Thailand 1962 None 7 Dec 1978 Visit and detailed country report WHO/SE/78.132 pp 7,21

  1. East Pakistan was renamed Bangladesh in 1971. Transmission was interrupted in 1970, but smallpox was reintroduced from India in 1971 when civil war, flooding, and famine created vast numbers of refugees. The last case in Bangladesh occurred on 16 Oct 1975. It was the last case of variola major and the last case of smallpox in Asia.
  2. Burma was renamed Myanmar in 1989. Both names are in current usage.
  3. Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972.

Regional Information

* Cited in Smallpox and its Eradication, Fenner et al, WHO 1988
    WHO documents are in italics


Year Title Authors Source URL
1975 Smallpox outbreak field form—17 Jan 1975, Bihar, India SEP DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1995 [Smallpox control in Indochina: variolation vs vaccination?] French Guenel A Hist Philos Life Sci 1995 17(1):55-79
1968 Smallpox Surveillance Report #1, 7 Jun 1968
Asia
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1968 43(23):290-1 WHO: 10665/216623
1968 Smallpox Surveillance Report #6, 16 Aug 1968
Asia
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1968 43(33):408-9 WHO: 10665/216745
1968 Smallpox Surveillance Report #10, 11 Oct 1968
Asia. India
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1968 43(41):524-8 WHO: 10665/216842
1968 Smallpox Surveillance Report #11, 25 Oct 1968
Asia. Pakistan. Worldwide cases 1956-67
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1968 43(43):552-6 WHO: 10665/216865
1968 SEARO: Projections for vaccination, vaccine requirements, and expenditures: 1968, 1969, 1970 Meeting of Regional Advisers on Smallpox Eradication. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3-10 Apr 1968 DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1970 Smallpox Surveillance Report #50, 20-Nov 1970
Asia
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1970 45(47):520-3 WHO: 10665/218025
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1970 Review of the status of smallpox in the South-East Asia Region
Inter-Regional Seminar on Surveillance and Assessment in Smallpox Eradication. New Delhi, India, 30 Nov - 5 Dec 1970
Oles A WHO/SE/71.30:13-23
Also issued as SE/WP/70.3
WHO: 10665/67488
WHO: 10665/68072
1972 Smallpox Surveillance Report #77, 1 Sep 1972
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1972 47(35):330-2 WHO: 10665/219056
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1972 Smallpox Surveillance Report #79, 29 Sep 1972
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1972 47(39):371-3 WHO: 10665/219096
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1972 Smallpox Surveillance Report #80, 20 Oct 1972
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1972 47(42):398-401 WHO: 10665/219124
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1972 Smallpox Surveillance Report #82, 1 Dec 1972
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1972 47(48):470-2 WHO: 10665/219174
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 Smallpox Surveillance Report #85, 2 Feb 1973
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1973 48(5):69-71 WHO: 10665/219247
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 Smallpox Surveillance Report #87, 6 Mar 1973
Asian sub-continent. Importation: UK
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1973 48(11):126-9 WHO: 10665/219303
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 Smallpox Surveillance Report #89, 13 Apr 1973
Asian sub-continent, Botswana, Uganda. Importation: Japan. Outbreak: UK [Birmingham]
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1973 48(15):167-70 WHO: 10665/219341
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 Smallpox Surveillance Report #92, 29 Jun 1973
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1973 48(26):264-6 WHO: 10665/219443
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 Smallpox Surveillance Report #96, 21 Sep 1973
Asian sub-continent
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1973 48(38):370-3 WHO: 10665/219548
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 Smallpox Surveillance Report #98, 16 Nov 1973
Asian sub-continent. Botswana. Importations: Somalia, French Territory of the Afars and Issas, Nepal
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1973 48(46):434-8 WHO: 10665/219623
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1973 [Duration of vaccination immunity to smallpox (epidemiological observation in Southeast Asia)] Russian Vishniakov VE Tr Leningr Nauchno Issled Inst Epidemiol Mikrobiol 1973 42:163-8
1973 [Smallpox and traditional medicine in the developing countries of Africa and Asia] German Serý V Z Tropenmed Parasitol 1973 24(1):105-18
1973 [Duration of vaccination immunity to smallpox (epidemiological observation in Southeast Asia)] Russian Vishniakov VE Tr Leningr Nauchno Issled Inst Epidemiol Mikrobiol 1973 42: 163-8
1975 Smallpox Surveillance Report #119, 8 Aug 1975
Asian sub-continent. Ethiopia. Smallpox Count-down introduced
Smallpox unit, WHO Wkly Epidemol Rec 1975 50(32):281-5 WHO: 10665/220472
DAH: Chesney Med Arch
1977 [Latest steps taken in the eradication of smallpox in Asia] Polish Kostrzewski J Przegl Epidemiol 1977 31(4):361-73
1980 [Smallpox eradication in Southeast Asia] Russian Slepushkin AN, Khodakevich LN Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol 1980 (3):3-8

India


For more information, see:

  • Smallpox and Its Eradication (Fenner et al, WHO, 1988), Chapters 15 & 25
  • The Eradication of Smallpox from India. Basu RN, Jezek Z, Ward NA (1980). WHO Southeast Asia Regional Office. Hist Intl Public Health #2; & WHO Southeast Asia Regional Pub #5 [346 pages, 56.3 MB]
    Review: Sci Am 1980 243(1):32-44, JSTOR: 24966362
  • The Management of Smallpox Eradication in India. Brilliant LB (1985). Univ of Michigan Press [193 pages, 8.4 MB].
    The author, Dr Lawrence B Brilliant, an epidemiologist with the WHO Regional Office for Southeast Asia, has generously made available the full text of his book. His extensive collection of documents is preserved in the Brilliant Collection at the University of Michigan Library.

Year Title Authors Source URL

Smallpox & Its Control Before 1958

* Cited in Smallpox and its Eradication, Fenner et al, WHO 1988
    WHO documents are in italics

Overview & Analyses

Year Title Authors Source URL
2004 [Seeds against smallpox: Joaquim Vas and the scientific translation of bananeira brava seeds in Goa, India (1894-1930)] Portuguese, Engl abstract Roque R Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos 2004 11 Suppl 1:183-222 DOI: 10.1590/s0104-59702004000400010
*1945 Smallpox and vaccination in British India during the last seventy years Rogers L Proc R Soc Med 1945 38(3):135-40 PMC: PMC2181657
1963 History of smallpox in Bihar Chatterjee SR Swasth Hind 1963 7: 263-4
*1978 Variolation in the Rajasthan desert Davis C WHO/SE/77.92 and
Indian J Public Health 1978 22(1):134-40
WHO: 10665/68212
1931 A prophylactic (?) against smallpox Biswas SK Ind Med Gaz 1931 66(4):236-7 PMC: PMC5185718
1961 Smallpox in ayurveda Roy A Nagarjun (India) 1961 5: 303-18
1958 Smallpox in Uttar Pradesh (1877-1954) Lal KM, Chand D, Murty GS J Indian Med Assoc 1958 30(4): 120-6
*1981 The goddess Sitala and epidemic smallpox in Bengal Nicholas RW J Asian Stud 1981 41(1):21-45 DOI: 10.2307/2055600
2009 Borrowing, adapting, and learning the practices of smallpox: notes from colonial Goa Bastos C Bull Hist Med 2009 83(1):141-63 DOI: 10.1353/bhm.0.0191
2009 Pursuing protection from disease: the making of smallpox prophylactic practice in colonial Punjab Minsky L Bull Hist Med 2009 83(1):167-90 DOI: 10.1353/bhm.0.0198

Contemporaneous Publications: 1845-1944

1845 Report on small-pox in Calcutta, and vaccination in Bengal Med Chir Rev 1845 2(4): 337-53 PMC: PMC5097987
1845 Report on smallpox in Calcutta, 1833-4, 1837-8, 1843-4, and vaccination in Bengal, from 1827 to 1844 Br Foreign Med Rev 1845 20(40): 349-56 PMC: PMC5613576
1866 Small-pox Ind Med Gaz 1866 1(2): 37 PMC: PMC5169926
1866 Epidemic small-pox and vaccine protection Johnston JW Ind Med Gaz 1866 1(9): 253-4 PMC: PMC5170288
1868 Small-pox hospital for Calcutta Ind Med Gaz 1868 3(7): 159 PMC: PMC5160981
1869 Report on the means adopted to stamp out small-pox at Umballa, 1869 Tuson TE Ind Med Gaz 1869 4(6): 115 PMC: PMC5176711
1869 Small-pox and vaccination in Bhurtpoor Harvey R Ind Med Gaz 1869 4(12): 257-8 PMC: PMC5176832
1870 Small-pox and vaccination in Bhurtpoor Harvey R Ind Med Gaz 1870 5(1): 8-10 PMC: PMC5165404
1870 Small-pox and vaccination in Bhurtpoor Harvey R Ind Med Gaz 1870 5(3): 51-4 PMC: PMC5165511
1873 Small-pox Ind Med Gaz 1873 8(7): 192 PMC: PMC5175917
1874 Small-pox in the central provinces in the year 1873 Ind Med Gaz 1874 9(12): 328-30 PMC: PMC5134665
1875 Report on an outbreak of small-pox in the Darjeeling district Purves HB Ind Med Gaz 1875 10(8): 203-4 PMC: PMC5171033
1907 On the incidence of small-pox in Calcutta Vaughan JC Ind Med Gaz 1907 42(7): 241-50 PMC: PMC5165827
1918 The injection of lymph as a protector against small-pox Fearnside CF, Poi SG Ind Med Gaz 1918 53(4): 140 PMC: PMC5201654
1924 A case of alastrim (Kaffir pox) Mukerji BK Ind Med Gaz 1924 59(2):89-90 PMC: PMC5172660
*1926 Small-pox and climate in India. Forecasting of epidemics Rogers L Spec Rep Ser Med Res Counc (GB) 1926 106:3-23
1927 Notes on two cases of alastrim Ghosh JM Ind Med Gaz 1927 62(10):572 PMC: PMC5197761
1927 A short note on mild small-pox in Patna Das JL Ind Med Gaz 1927 62(11): 634 PMC: PMC5197967
1929 Alastrim or small-pox? Nag SC Ind Med Gaz 1929 64(2): 90 PMC: PMC5164333
1930 Further experience in forecasting epidemics of smallpox, plague, and cholera in India, and its bearing on the reduction of cholera Rogers L Proc R Soc Med 1930 23(6): 793-802 PMC: PMC2182008
1930 Forecast of the probable major variations in cholera, small-pox and plague in India during 1930, based on the meteorology of 1929 Rogers L Ind Med Gaz 1930 65(4): 181-5 PMC: PMC5157418
1931 Result of the forecast of cholera, smallpox and plague incidence in India in 1930, and new forecast for 1931 Rogers L Ind Med Gaz 1931 66(2): 61-5 PMC: PMC5185653
1932 Result of the forecast of cholera, smallpox and plague in India in 1931 and forecast for 1932 Rogers L Ind Med Gaz 1932 67(2): 61-3 PMC: PMC5231437
1933 Result of the forecast of cholera, smallpox and plague in India in 1932 and forecast for 1933 Rogers L Ind Med Gaz 1933 68(1): 1-3 PMC: PMC5163578
1943 An epidemic of small-pox in the Kolar Gold Fields area Rao B, Natarajan CV Ind Med Gaz 1943 78(6): 297-8 PMC: PMC5158507
1944 Smallpox in Calcutta Ind Med Gaz 1944 79(7): 321 PMC: PMC5218687

Contemporaneous Publications: 1945-1958

1945 Prevention of smallpox by vaccination and revaccination: a critical study Seal SC Ind Med Gaz 1945 80(6):313-20 PMC: PMC5218024
1945 [Letter] Prevention of smallpox by vaccination and revaccination Seal SC Ind Med Gaz 1945 80(8):426 PMC: PMC5218226
1946 Prevention of small-pox Paul JN Indian Med Rec 1946 66:36-8
*1948 Further work on forecasting smallpox epidemics in India and British tropical countries based on previous climatic data Rogers L J Hyg (Lond) 1948 46(1):19-33 DOI: 10.1017/s0022172400036020
PMC: PMC2235070
1951 My experience with smallpox [Jammu refugee camps] Gupta CK Ind Med Gaz 1951 86(5):216-7 PMC: PMC5191746
1951 Smallpox in India; a suggestion Millard CK Ind Med Gaz 1951 86(5):209-11 PMC: PMC5191745
1951 Smallpox in Calcutta Ind Med Gaz 1951 86(5):205-6 PMC: PMC5191750
1952 Experience of small-pox epidemic in Saharsa sub-district Ukil SC Indian Med J 1952 46(9):206-8
1957 Smallpox in Uttar Pradesh Gupta NP, Yajnik BS, Murty GS J Indian Med Assoc 1957 29(1): 15-9
*1958 [Smallpox; impressions from an epidemic in Bombay in 1958] German Herrlich A Dtsch Med Wochenschr 1958 83(34):1426-8 DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1113803
1958 Influence of climate, season and sunlight on the incidence of smallpox Murthy GS, Chand D, Lal KM Indian J Public Health 1958 2:249-57