Target Zero - The Eradication of Smallpox
In 1966 the World Health Organisation Set Up a special Unit - Their Goal Eradicate smallpox within 10 years, but the idea was almost killed at birth passing the council by only 2 votes. So how do you stop a disease from spreading, well seeing that diseases carry from person to person, so they focused on vaccinating people around people exposed to the disease before it could spread to anyone else, the team behind it had to travel to some of the most remote places to stop it spreading. And by the mid 1970's they were extremely close, but they knew if an outbreak happened all their work could be undone and in October 1977 responding to a case in the Somalian port city of Mersa, on arrival they discovered a 21 year old with the disease Ali Maalin quickly isolating him and immunising everyone who had been in contact with him. No other case has happened since and Ali Mallin Survived but sadly passed away in July Last Year, he was a living teasament to all the researchers who worked trierlessly to stop this disease.