After first contacts with Europeans, the death of a large part of the native population of the new world was caused by European-transmitted diseases. Smallpox was the chief culprit. On at least one occasion, germ warfare using smallpox infected blankets was used against Native Americans by the [British army]?.
In 1796, Edward Jenner became the first scientist to develop a smallpox vaccine by using cowpox? fluid. His theory was too radical for the scientific establishment and he had to pay to privately publish his findings. After independent confirmation, the practice of vaccination against smallpox spread quickly and national laws requiring vaccination began appearing as soon as 1805. The last case of wild smallpox occurred in 1977 and the disease is now thought to be extinct in the wild, though cultures are kept by the [Centers for Disease Control]? and Russian authorities.