Smallpox
is a terrible disease that ravaged the world for roughly 3,000 years. Its
symptoms include vomiting, nausea, fatigue, backache, headache, and
rarely hallucinations. The incubation period is 12-14 days.
Symptoms
Between
this time the victim will begin to develop a red blistering rash.
In
the most severe cases the victim will start to have patches of skin
that seem charred and black. This is known as Hemorrhagic
Smallpox or the Variola Major virus. The
skin is black because blood is collecting under the skin. The
eyes of
the victim will also turn from white to red to black (if they live long
enough). During this strain of the disease the victim has a 96%
chance of dying. In the less severe (but still deadly)
strain of
the Variola Major virus the victim will develop small zit like sores
around the body during the incubation period. Around day eight,
these
zits will take two very different courses. They will either be
Hemorrhagic or normal smallpox.
The least deadly form of smallpox is known as the Variola Minor
Virus in which the victim only has one percent chance of dying.
Biological Warfare
Due
to the contagious nature of Smallpox, it
has been used as a biological agent for centuries. It was used
during the 1800's as a way to destroy the Great Plains Indians.
More recently Smallpox was put into bombs and ICBMs (intercontinental
ballistic missiles) during the Cold War by the
Soviet Union and the United States. It is one of the world's
biggest fears that terrorist organizations or rogue states could obtain
samples of Smallpox and put them into weaponized form. Thankfully Smallpox only exists in two places. One place is ' The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ' in Atlanta, Georgia. The other place is a classified testing lab in Russia.
Cures
T

There
is no cure for Smallpox. There is however, a vaccine. The
vaccine consists of a two pronged needle that is covered in a mild
strain of the virus and is then stabbed into the skin. Thanks to
this vaccine Smallpox had its last wild case in 1974.