The Brunei Smallpox Epidemic of 1904.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
The Brunei Smallpox Epidemic of 1904. |
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Author :
A.V.M. Horton |
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Abstract:
In this article I will examine the Brunei smallpox epidemic of 1904, the last natural disaster to have befallen the Sultanate. The disease decimated the population of the capital: ‘even Sultan Hashim*, in the space of a fortnight in June-July, was obliged to mourn the loss of a son, three grandchildren and eight younger children. Today smallpox has been entirely eradicated from the world, but for 800 years before the 19th Century it was a terrible scourge, causing the deaths on average of one million people each year. The decisive breakthrough came in 1796 when Sir Edward Jenner (1749 — 1823) — “an English physician to whom mankind must ever remain indebted” — demonstrated that by inoculating a person with animal cowpox virus immunity to subsequent smallpox resulted. This technique — “vaccination” (from vacca, Latin for cow) — has since spread throughout the world and, by using an appropriate vaccine, has been applied to defeat, not just smallpox, but other killer diseases as well.
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| DOI: XXXX |
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How to cite:
Horton, A. V. M. (1984). The Brunei Smallpox Epidemic of 1904. The Sarawak Museum Journal, XXXIII (54): 89-100 |
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References
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