Welcome to Seminar Four How Smallpox Disease Influenced the Development of Public Health Laws Smallpox Smallpox originated over 3,000 years ago in India or Egypt, One of the most devastating diseases known to humanity. For centuries, repeated epidemics swept across continents, decimating populations and changing the course of history. (World Health Organization SMALLPOX IS A SERIOUS, CONTAGIOUS INFECTIOUS DISEASE THE ONLY PREVENTION IS VACCINATION THE DISEASE IS ERADICATED AFTER A GLOBAL VACCINATION PROGRAM Smallpox THE LAST CASE OF SMALLPOX IN THE UNITED STATES WAS IN 1949 THE LAST NATURALLY OCCURRING CASE IN THE WORLD WAS IN SOMALIA IN 1977 SMALLPOX IS CAUSED BY THE VARIOLA VIRUS EMERGED IN HUMAN POPULATIONS THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. EXCEPT FOR LABORATORY STOCKPILES, THE VARIOLA VIRUS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL (HTTP://WWW.BT.CDC.GOV/AGENT/SMALLPOX/OVERVIEW/DISEASE-FACTS.ASP) Smallpox HEIGHTENED AWARENESS THE VARIOLA VIRUS MIGHT BE USED AS AN AGENT OF BIOTERRORISM. U.S. GOVERNMENT IS TAKING PRECAUTIONS FOR DEALING WITH A A SMALLPOX OUTBREAK. CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL (HTTP://WWW.BT.CDC.GOV/AGENT/SMALLPOX/OVERVIEW/DISEASE-FACTS.ASP) Smallpox In the early 1950s 150 years after the introduction of vaccination Estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year, a figure which fell to around 1015 million by 1967 because of vaccination. (World Health Organization Smallpox , WHO concluded while vaccination is the only proven public health measure available to prevent and control a smallpox outbreak, current vaccine supplies are extremely limited (World Health Organization Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Public Health Law Late 19th century the Board of Health of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, issued an ordinance compelling vaccination and imposing a fine of $5 for noncompliance Reverend Henning Jacobson resisted, challenging the ordinance as in violation of the due process protections of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Failing in the lower courts, he ultimately took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1904 (http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/jacobson/pdfs/public_health_guide.pdf) Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Public Health Law Setting historical precedent, the Supreme Court affirmed that states may limit individual liberty in order to carry out warranted, well-established public health interventions. This seminal opinion has served as the constitutional foundation for state actions which limit liberty in the name of public health. (Parmet, et. al., 2005, p. 652) Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Public Health Law In 1905, the United States Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling The balance between the rights of individual Americans and those of society as a whole The issue before the Court was whether the state of Massachusetts could compel citizens to be vaccinated against smallpox (http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/jacobson/pdfs/public_health_guide.pdf) Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Public Health Law The Courts ruling established foundational law with important implications for the protection of Americans legal rights and, equally, for governments ability to protect all citizens against infectious disease epidemics and many other potentially catastrophic health threats. (http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/jacobson/pdfs/public_health_guide.pdf) Resources Smallpox Vaccine Injury Law Project Louisiana State University School of LawMilitary PolicyJacobson v. Massachusetts and Public Health Law: Perspectives in 2005de.pdf