Dr Donald Henderson, the epidemiologist who helped in the fight against smallpox, died at the age of 87.
Dr Donald Henderson, the epidemiologist who eradicated smallpox
Donald Henderson (07/09/1928 – 19/08/2016) was an American epidemiologist who was in charge of a 10-year international effort to eradicate smallpox, a disease that killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. He died in Towson, Maryland, from complications following a hip fracture.
He served as Chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) virus disease surveillance programs from 1960 to 1965 and from 1977 to 1990 he was the Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Henderson received numerous awards and honors for his work, one of them being the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
Smallpox is an acute, highly contagious, viral disease that can potentially be life-threatening. According to WHO the last known case of smallpox was in Somalia in 1977. The most important symptoms of the disease are : headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, high fever, chills, severe back pain, rash and characteristic pimples.