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Scientist who helped eradicate smallpox passes away

Scientist who helped eradicate smallpox passes away

The death has taken place of Frank Fenner the Australian scientist who helped eradicate smallpox. He was 95.

Professor Fenner, who was a virologist and microbiologist, began advising the World Health Organisation in 1969 on its campaign to deal with smallpox.

The campaign had begun two years earlier at a time when smallpox was blamed for 2 million deaths a year across 42 countries.

In 1977, Professor Fenner became chairman of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication. In the same year the last known case of naturally transmitted smallpox was recorded in Somalia. 

Three years later Professor Fenner was able to announce that smallpox had been eradicated.

This was a major point in a long and very successful career. 

While serving in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps in the second world war, Professor Fenner carried out important work on the control of malaria which had badly affected Australian troops in tropical battle zones. 

He received an O.B.E. for his work in this field.

In the 1950s he was involved in a remarkable incident when he and two fellow researchers injected themselves with the myxoma virus.

At the time Australia was trying to find a way of dealing with millions of rabbits which were ruining valuable pastureland.

Professor Fenner was part of a team which was pressing for the myxoma virus to be used to kill-off most of the rabbits. But public concern was raised after it was found that mosquitoes were spreading myxomatosis. 

To allay fears Professor Fenner and his fellow researchers injected themselves with enough myxoma virus to kill 1,000 rabbits. They remained healthy and campaign to deal with the rabbits went ahead.

Among those to pay tribute to Professor Fenner was the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard who said: “He was a man of exceptional integrity, modesty and generosity of spirit who showed that Australians are capable of great things.”

 

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