<P> In the early 1950s an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year . To eradicate smallpox, each outbreak had to be stopped from spreading, by isolation of cases and vaccination of everyone who lived close by . This process is known as "ring vaccination". The key to this strategy was the monitoring of cases in a community (known as surveillance) and containment . The initial problem the WHO team faced was inadequate reporting of smallpox cases, as many cases did not come to the attention of the authorities . The fact that humans are the only reservoir for smallpox infection, and that carriers did not exist, played a significant role in the eradication of smallpox . The WHO established a network of consultants who assisted countries in setting up surveillance and containment activities . Early on, donations of vaccine were provided primarily by the Soviet Union and the United States, but by 1973, more than 80 percent of all vaccine was produced in developing countries . </P> <P> The last major European outbreak of smallpox was in 1972 in Yugoslavia, after a pilgrim from Kosovo returned from the Middle East, where he had contracted the virus . The epidemic infected 175 people, causing 35 deaths . Authorities declared martial law, enforced quarantine, and undertook widespread re-vaccination of the population, enlisting the help of the WHO . In two months, the outbreak was over . Prior to this, there had been a smallpox outbreak in May--July 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden, brought from the Far East by a Swedish sailor; this had been dealt with by quarantine measures and vaccination of the local population . </P> <P> By the end of 1975, smallpox persisted only in the Horn of Africa . Conditions were very difficult in Ethiopia and Somalia, where there were few roads . Civil war, famine, and refugees made the task even more difficult . An intensive surveillance and containment and vaccination program was undertaken in these countries in early and mid-1977, under the direction of Australian microbiologist Frank Fenner . As the campaign neared its goal, Fenner and his team played an important role in verifying eradication . The last naturally occurring case of indigenous smallpox (Variola minor) was diagnosed in Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital cook in Merca, Somalia, on 26 October 1977 . The last naturally occurring case of the more deadly Variola major had been detected in October 1975 in a two - year - old Bangladeshi girl, Rahima Banu . </P> <P> The global eradication of smallpox was certified, based on intense verification activities in countries, by a commission of eminent scientists on 9 December 1979 and subsequently endorsed by the World Health Assembly on 8 May 1980 . The first two sentences of the resolution read: </P>

When was the last time someone had smallpox