#smallpox 1962

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Smallpox in Wales, 1962, part 1 of 11

“EARLY IN 1962, a killer disease was on the loose in Wales. People were gripped by fear and hundreds of thousands demanded vaccination. Week by week, as the disease spread, the death toll mounted....”

In total, 46 people contracted smallpox during the outbreak. 19 of those infected died of the disease and around 900,000 locals were vaccinated against it. The website, Smallpox1962, exhaustively details this incident through photos, personal stories, documents, and videos. It’s a real gem of medical history quietly sitting online.

Throughout today and tomorrow, I am posting content that is particularly interesting to me and I’ll roughly cover the outbreak beginning to end. If you like what I post, then I encourage you to explore the original website to learn more.

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this 11 part series will be shown in full here

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Smallpox in Wales, 1962, part 5 of 11

The man at the gate is Don Bowden who lived with his family on the premises of Penrhys Isolation Hospital. Bowden worked as the caretaker along with his wife. When the hospital closed following the 1962 smallpox outbreak, it was quickly burned down to ensure no further infection (see the bottom left image of men dousing the hospital wards in preparation). 

With the destruction of the hospital, the Bowden family lost their home and everything inside of it. Eventually, the family was compensated for their loss. The bottom right image shows a letter from the Welsh Board of Health authorising their settlement in October of 1962.

You can read more about these outbreaks at the incredible website I am drawing all this content from. 

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this 11 part series will be shown in full here