Introduction Small pox is a disease that has plagued humanity for centuries, in nearly all parts of the world.

The earliest definitive cases of small pox can be traced back to evidence from Egyptian mummies that are around 3000 years old [1]. The disease has been a plague to many societies, with many historical documents from the pre classical and classical age describing patients with similar symptoms: a sudden breakout followed by a range of terrible symptoms, ending in most cases in death [2]. Small pox remained endemic in many areas of the old world for generations, even into modern times [1]. The disease easily spread wherever people took it, and stayed in those areas nearly for good. Small pox was even the unknown ally of colonists seeking to rid their newly found lands of the current inhabitants [2]. Starting with Cortes landing in 1519, the disease decimated the native populations of the New World who had no natural resistance to the foreign disease [2]. In the end, the disease helped wipe out most of the native population of the Americas and even Australia, leaving behind little evidence to their existence. Our exhibit will cover both the basics of small pox, including its course in the New World, how it affected the peoples of North, Central, and South America, along with its effects in Australia. So what is smallpox? Although it has many different types, the main strain of the virus is known as the Classical Type [1]. The course of this strain spreads notoriously fast in populations, and is very severe. The incubation period, or period of reproduction and growth inside the host, is about 7 to 19 days, most of the time falling between 10-14 days [1]. Five to six days before the onset of symptoms occur is known as the pre-eruptive stage, where the virus begins to become extremely active in reproduction and spreads throughout the body [1]. This is the calm before the storm. The end of the pre-eruptive stage is marked by the very sudden onset of severe symptoms, including the notorious rash [1]. From this point on, the symptoms grow

worse. The eruptive stage comes after the pre-eruptive stage, and is marked by painful headaches, a severe fever, and the spread of the notorious smallpox boils across the body [1]. By the seventh day of the eruptive stage, the boils begin to scab over and become rock hard pustules, which can crack open and become infected very easily [1]. Although some symptoms very, this strain of smallpox is marked by seemingly never-ending scabs, as seen in figure 1. At this stage, the individual is very weak, and susceptible to many dangers. With the opening of the scabs, the skin becomes an open door for other bacteria and viruses to get into the body [1]. The immune system is weak from fighting the virus, allowing those infected with smallpox to be vulnerable to catching other diseases with smallpox. The respiratory system is also vulnerable to infection, and often times these secondary infections are the cause of death for those infected with smallpox [2].