To the 30Th Anniversary of Smallpox Eradication
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To the 30th anniversary of smallpox eradication “…This unprecedented achievement in the history of public health of all nations, which by their collective action have freed mankind of this ancient scourge and, in doing so, have demonstrated how nations working together in a common cause may further human progress.” Declaration of Global Eradication of Smallpox, 33rd World Health Assembly, May 1980 “…The eradication of smallpox will undoubtedly be ranked with the mastery of flight, the harnessing of nuclear energy, and the first steps in the exploration of space.” Halfdan Mahler, the WHO Director-General during the Intensified Phase of the Smallpox Eradication Program “There has been no greater medical—or humani- tarian—miracle in modern times than the eradication of smallpox…” David Oshinsky, 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector Prof. S.S. Marennikova, Ed. C o v e r p h o t o : A poster by a local artist from Bihar (India) allegori- cally depicting the victory over smallpox as the black monster covered with pockmarks; a young man in the pose of a winner stands in front of the defeated dis- ease; he is armed with a bifurcated needle, which he just used to deliver a fatal blow to the monster (by the CERIS courtesy of Yu.G. Krivda) Novosibirsk ● 2018 UDC 616.912 LBC 52.64 CONTENTS A Word to the Reader (Academician G.G. Onishchenko) ...................................................................................... 6 How It Was: The Global Smallpox Eradication Program in Reminiscences of Its Participants Foreword (Academician V.V. Zverev) ........................................................................................................................... 7 Prof. S.S. Marennikova, ed.—Novosibirsk: CERIS, 2018—276 p.—(col. ins. 16 p.) Introduction (Prof. S.S. Marennikova) ......................................................................................................................... 9 th This book is dedicated to the 30 anniversary of the global eradication of an extremely dangerous disease—smallpox. th Its body is personal reminiscences of Russian participants of the Global Smallpox Eradication Program, launched by the The World Triumphantly Celebrated the 30 Anniversary of Smallpox Eradication (S.S. Marennikova and World Health Assembly in 1958 by the initiative of the Soviet Union. The book comprises 20 separate chapters written by L.N. Khodakevich) ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 17 authors. The first chapters acquaint the readers with the course of this program, the encountered difficulties, and victories The Smallpox Eradication Program and Its Significance for the Global Health (S.S. Marennikova) ............ 23 as well as with the festive occasions connected with the 30th anniversary of the smallpox eradication. Subsequent chapters Some International and Political Aspects of Smallpox Eradication Program (D.D. Venediktov) ................ 41 narrate the arduous and frequently heroic daily routine of the struggle with smallpox told by participants of these events Moscow WHO Collaborating Center for Smallpox and Related Infections: Its History and Activities who worked in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and other countries. A special focus in this description (S.S. Marennikova) ..................................................................................................................................................... 49 is put on the final intensified stage of this program, including eradication of residual smallpox foci in these countries. A separate chapter deals with the activities of the WHO Collaborating Center for Smallpox and Related Infections in At the Start of the Road: Indian Smallpox Eradication Program, 1962–1965 (V.K. Tatochenko) .................. 77 Moscow, which supported the program during its entire course (21 years). The book contains the materials on the control Afghanistan in the Intensified Phase of Smallpox Eradication Program (V.V. Fedorov) ................................. 83 of imported smallpox outbreaks in the USSR during implementation of the program as well as the activities associated with Smallpox Eradication Campaign in Pakistan and Ethiopia (G.D. Suleimanov) ................................................... 95 the upgrading of the smallpox vaccine production at the Institute for Viral Preparations, Ministry of Public Health. The Smallpox Eradication in the World and Some Remarkable People I Met and Worked with memorial chapter concludes the book. It is dedicated to the memory of the passed colleagues and friends who participated in the Program (L.N. Khodakevich) ........................................................................................................................ 113 in the eradication program. The book is intended for epidemiologists, virologists, infectiologists, and other medical and veterinary specialists. It will be also interesting for historians of medicine and a wide range of readers. Students and young The Bihar Mixing Vessel (V.D. Bychenko) ................................................................................................................... 155 physicians will find there the worthy examples to follow. Operation “No Return to Smallpox”: Smallpox Goddess Leaves Bihar (Yu.G. Krivda) .................................. 165 Concluding Stage of Smallpox Eradication and Post-Eradication Activities (A.I. Gromyko) .......................... 173 Eradication of Smallpox in India: Reminiscences of a Field Epidemiologist (District Level) (G.P. Oblapenko) ........................................................................................................................................................ 177 On the Track of Smallpox: India and Bangladesh (V.G. Fedenev) ......................................................................... 199 Pasteur Scientists Have Always Been in the Center of an Epidemic Doing the Hardest Work (E.M. Slepchuk) ........................................................................................................................................................... 209 The Soviet Mission in Iraq (O.M. Konovalova) ............................................................................................................ 213 Smallpox Vaccine Production in Russia for the Global Smallpox Eradication Program and Some Aspects of Post-Eradication Politics (Yu.Z. Gendon) ........................................................................................................ 217 The Control of Imported Smallpox Outbreaks in the Soviet Union during Program Implementation .......... 223 It Was This Way (V.A. Zuev) ................................................................................................................................... 223 The Smallpox in Moscow, 1960: Facts and Figures (E.B. Gurvich and G.M. Manenkova) .................... 228 The Beginning of the Path: Some Episodes from the Recent History of the Smallpox Control (E.B. Gurvich) ..................................................................................................................................................... 232 The Last Imported Smallpox Outbreak in the USSR, Tajikistan, 1968 (E.B. Gurvich) ........................... 237 The Soviet Citizens Who Participated in the Global Smallpox Eradication Program ............................. 241 © Ministry of Health and Social Development of In Memory of Our Deceased Colleagues Who Participated in Smallpox Eradication Program ......... 247 the Russian Federation, 2011 SUPPLEMENT. Skin Lesions in Smallpox ................................................................................................................ 261 © Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being, 2011 © State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector, 2011 © Layout by CERIS, 2011 ISBN 978 –5 –7007– 0291–1 5 A Word to the Reader Foreword Dear reader: This book is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the great event that freed out planet Few of the past centuries were so full of great events that shook the world as the from smallpox, one of the most ancient and dangerous infectious human diseases. 20th century. Just recall the two world wars, which killed tens of millions of people Even in the middle of the 20th century, smallpox as an endemic disease affected as well as the revolutions and disasters that have changed the social and political the population of many countries in Asia, Africa, and South America. The countries landscape of the world. However, this century was marked by unprecedented advance that had eliminated this disease long ago, including the USSR, suffered from smallpox and achievements in almost all spheres of human activities. The latter rightly includes importation. the global eradication of smallpox, one of the most dangerous infectious diseases that The book was published on the initiative and thanks to the tremendous efforts of have plagued humanity for millennia. Halfdan Mahler, the WHO Director-General Prof. Svetlana S. Marennikova and a team of her colleagues, who succeeded in finding during the period of smallpox eradication project, highly esteemed this victory: “...while and uniting almost