By 
Simona Zompi
 | 
TED-Ed Original

How we conquered the deadly smallpox virus

For 10000 years humanity suffered from the scourge of smallpox. The virus killed almost a third of its victims within two weeks and left survivors horribly scarred. But Simona Zompi commends the brave souls - a Buddhist nun a boy a cow a dairymaid and physician Edward Jenner - who first stopped the spread of this disastrous disease to make us smallpox-free today.

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