Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

smallpox  

Definition

  • Smallpox, a contagious disease produced by the variola virus (genus Orthopoxvirus), was eradicated in 197. The word smallpox is believed to come from the Latin word pocca meaning “pouch,” and variola from varius or varus meaning “spotted pimple.” There were three subspecies of variola: variola major, intermedius, and minor. [Source: Encyclopedia of Epidemiology; Smallpox]

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/smallpox

Download this concept: