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Data

Number of reported smallpox cases

About this data

Source
World Health Organization (1988) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
May 12, 2018
Date range
1886–1977

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

World Health Organization – Smallpox cases by country

Data until 1966 was compiled from relevant tables in Fenner et al. (1988)'s Chapter 8 (link above): Fenner, F., Henderson, D. A., Arita, I., Jezek, Z., Ladnyi, I. D., & World Health Organization. (1988). Smallpox and its eradication.

1967 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1969). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1969, vol. 44, 4 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 44 (4), 69-88. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/217012/WER4404.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1968 and 1969 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1970). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1970, vol. 45, 3 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 45 (3), 17-36. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/217559/WER4503.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1970 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1971). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1971, vol. 46, 51 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 46 (51), 521-532. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/218642/WER4651.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1971 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1972). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1972, vol. 47, 26 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 47 (26), 249-256. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/218953/WER4726.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1972 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1974). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1974, vol. 49, 2 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 49 (2), 9-24. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/219695/WER4902.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1973 and 1974 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1975). Table 5 Smallpox Surveillance. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/220183/WER5003_21-22.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1975 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1976). Smallpox surveillance End of Year 1975 summary. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/220670/WER5103_9-18.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1976 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1977). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1977, vol. 52, 2 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 52 (2), 9-20. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/221189/WER5202.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1977 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1978). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1978, vol. 53, 2 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 52 (2), 9-20. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/221687/WER5302.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Some data cleaning was performed: East Pakistan was changed into Bangladesh and West Pakistan was changed into Pakistan. Upper Volta was changed into Burkina Faso, Southern Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, Ceylon to Sri Lanka but Dahomey (a region in today's Nigeria) was left as it is. For all countries that approached zero cases and then were not included in the Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) anymore subsequently were assumed to have zero cases. This was done for 1967-1977.

Retrieved on
May 12, 2018
Retrieved from
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/39485/1/9241561106.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Fenner, F., Henderson, D. A., Arita, I., Jezek, Z., Ladnyi, I. D., & World Health Organization. (1988). Smallpox and its eradication. Geneva, Switzerland, and various Weekly Epidemiological Records published by the World Health Organization.

Data until 1966 was compiled from relevant tables in Fenner et al. (1988)'s Chapter 8 (link above): Fenner, F., Henderson, D. A., Arita, I., Jezek, Z., Ladnyi, I. D., & World Health Organization. (1988). Smallpox and its eradication.

1967 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1969). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1969, vol. 44, 4 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 44 (4), 69-88. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/217012/WER4404.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1968 and 1969 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1970). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1970, vol. 45, 3 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 45 (3), 17-36. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/217559/WER4503.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1970 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1971). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1971, vol. 46, 51 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 46 (51), 521-532. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/218642/WER4651.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1971 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1972). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1972, vol. 47, 26 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 47 (26), 249-256. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/218953/WER4726.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1972 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1974). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1974, vol. 49, 2 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 49 (2), 9-24. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/219695/WER4902.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1973 and 1974 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1975). Table 5 Smallpox Surveillance. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/220183/WER5003_21-22.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1975 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1976). Smallpox surveillance End of Year 1975 summary. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/220670/WER5103_9-18.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1976 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1977). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1977, vol. 52, 2 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 52 (2), 9-20. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/221189/WER5202.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1977 data retrieved from World Health Organization. (1978). Weekly Epidemiological Record, 1978, vol. 53, 2 [full issue]. Weekly Epidemiological Record = Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire, 52 (2), 9-20. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/221687/WER5302.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Some data cleaning was performed: East Pakistan was changed into Bangladesh and West Pakistan was changed into Pakistan. Upper Volta was changed into Burkina Faso, Southern Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, Ceylon to Sri Lanka but Dahomey (a region in today's Nigeria) was left as it is. For all countries that approached zero cases and then were not included in the Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) anymore subsequently were assumed to have zero cases. This was done for 1967-1977.

Retrieved on
May 12, 2018
Retrieved from
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/39485/1/9241561106.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Fenner, F., Henderson, D. A., Arita, I., Jezek, Z., Ladnyi, I. D., & World Health Organization. (1988). Smallpox and its eradication. Geneva, Switzerland, and various Weekly Epidemiological Records published by the World Health Organization.

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All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Number of reported smallpox cases”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/number-of-reported-smallpox-cases.html [online resource] (archived on May 11, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Health Organization (1988) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Health Organization (1988) – processed by Our World in Data. “Number of reported smallpox cases” [dataset]. World Health Organization, “Smallpox cases by country” [original data]. Retrieved May 11, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/number-of-reported-smallpox-cases.html (archived on May 11, 2026).

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