Europe's last smallpox epidemic

Published: Nov. 23, 2021, 9:30 a.m.

Eighteen million people were vaccinated against smallpox in the former communist Yugoslavia in only a month and a half in 1972. The mass vaccination campaign succeeded in containing the last smallpox epidemic in Europe. Dr Ana Gligic was a virologist who detected the first cases of the disease and helped tackle the outbreak. \n \n \nPHOTO: A smallpox patient in Yugoslavia in 1972 (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)