WIKIMEDIADonald “D.A.” Henderson, a renowned epidemiologist best known for helping rid the world of smallpox, died last week (August 19) in Towson, Maryland, after complications from a hip fracture. He was 87.
Henderson’s interest in smallpox and its prevention sprung from an outbreak in New York City in 1947, The Washington Post reported. Henderson yearned to play an active role in suppressing outbreaks, and so became a disease detective at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 1966, the World Health Organization (WHO) tapped him to lead an audacious effort: to erase smallpox—a scourge that killed an estimated 300 million people during the 20th century alone.
The WHO had spearheaded smallpox eradication efforts in the past, which had “failed spectacularly,” Jason Schwartz, a historian of medicine at the Yale School of Public Health told the Washington Post. Yet Henderson did not demure.
Instead, he coordinated international field teams who sought out patients, isolated them, ...
