Dr. Larry Brilliant, who helped eradicate smallpox, says past epidemics can teach us to fight coronavirus.
Share
In partnership with Scientific American
Coronavirus: Lessons From Past Epidemics
Producers: Umbreen Butt and Sianne Garlick
Sr. Producers: Karen M. Sughrue and Janet Tobias
The race for a vaccine against COVID19 recalls past efforts to conquer infectious diseases. But smallpox remains the only infectious disease to have been globally extinguished. Dr. Larry Brilliant was part of the World Health Organization’s smallpox eradication campaign in the 1970s. Today he is urging the U.S. to speed up the mobilization of medical supplies and building of field hospitals, and for public health experts to think outside the box, a hallmark of the effort that eradicated smallpox.
Transcript
Lesson Plan
Archived VersionsMore Like This
Bringing Midwifery Back to Black Mothers
For care in pregnancy and childbirth, Black parents are turning to a traditional practice.
Burden of Richmond Evictions Weighs Heaviest in Black Neighborhoods
An eviction moratorium has slowed filings in cities like Richmond, but it hasn’t stopped them, and Black tenants are at highest risk.
We’re Catching More Diseases From Wild Animals, and It’s Our Fault.
Scientists who venture into rainforests and bat caves explain how viruses, like Covid-19, spill over from animals to people, and what we must do to stop the next pandemic.
How Decades of Housing Discrimination Hurts Fresno in the Pandemic
Decades of discrimination in Fresno laid the groundwork for a housing crisis today.