Milestones in the eradication of smallpox Tuesday, March 8, 2011; 9:41 AM With officials debating whether to destroy the remaining specimens of the pathogen, here is a look at notable dates in smallpox history: 1796: Edward Jenner invents a smallpox vaccine. 1966: The World Health Organization (WHO) launches a massive global campaign to eradicate smallpox. 1972: Smallpox vaccinations are discontinued in the United States. 1975 and 1977: The last cases of the two known variants of smallpox occur in the world, in Bangladesh and Somalia. 1978: Two people are sickened in a lab accident in England; one dies. 1980: The WHO declares smallpox eradicated. 1991: Smallpox virus DNA is mapped. 1999: The WHO sets this deadline, by which remaining lab stocks of the virus are to be destroyed. The deadline will be postponed again and again. 2003: Millions of doses of vaccine are produced to hedge against a biological attack. 2011: WHO's decision-making body will meet in May to again vote on whether to kill the remaining live viruses. SOURCES: "Smallpox Zero," by Jonathan Roy; CDC