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Donald "D.A." Henderson, a physician, educator, and epidemiologist who led the World Health Organization's campaign to eradicate smallpox, died at 87 years of age on Aug. 19, 2016.
Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that two million died in that year.
After vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the global eradication of smallpox in 1979. Smallpox is one of two infectious diseases to have been eradicated, the other being rinderpest, which was declared eradicated in 2011.
Key to the eradication effort, given an insufficient supply of vaccine to inoculate everyone, was "surveillance-containment":
This technique entailed rapid reporting of cases from all health units and prompt vaccination of household members and close contacts of confirmed cases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Henderson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox
2014 Interview: http://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-henderson/ or use YouTube.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday August 26 2016, @04:26PM
Unless he died from smallpox, and this is irony, I don't see the news value in that people die of old age since mortality is 1.
(Score: 1) by OrugTor on Friday August 26 2016, @04:52PM
It's an opportunity to remind ourseves that great good can come from great people applying great science. In a culture where the OD death of a performer makes the front page I need to keep believing that we are better than that. Thank you Soylent News for reminding me that we are..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 26 2016, @05:38PM
Nobody has died from smallpox since 1978 - largely due to the efforts of this man.
Since you didn't seem to realise from the summary, the news value is derived from his value to the world and not his actual death. If you'd rather see, "Man Dies from a Crazy Accident You Wouldn't Believe" on the front page, then find those stories and submit them.