Question: give a brief explanation of smallpox?

Sarah Thomas answered on 20 Jun 2011:

Smallpox is a very serious illness caused by a virus called the variola virus. Smallpox gets its name from the pus-filled blisters that form during the illness. Although the names may sound alike, smallpox is not related to chickenpox, which is a milder disease caused by a different virus.

Smallpox is contagious. It spreads through tiny drops of an infected person’s saliva when the person coughs, talks, or sneezes.

There is a vaccine against small pox which means that nobody has gotten the disease for a very long time.