Background
By 1972, vaccination for smallpox had long been widely available and the disease was considered to be eradicated in Europe. The population of Yugoslavia had been regularly vaccinated against smallpox for 50 years, and the last case was reported in 1930. This was the major cause for the initial slow reaction by doctors, who did not promptly recognize the symptoms of the disease.
In October 1970, an Afghan family went on pilgrimage from Afghanistan, where smallpox was endemic, to Mashhad in Iran, triggering a massive epidemic of smallpox in Iran that would last until September 1972. By late 1971, smallpox-infected devotees on pilgrimage had carried the smallpox from Iran into Syria and Iraq.
Read more about this topic: 1972 Outbreak Of Smallpox In Yugoslavia
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