Smallpox in Bangladesh, 1970s. Father caring for his child who has smallpox. At this hospital, parents are permitted to remain with the children, but access by others is strictly limited to prevent the spread of the disease. Smallpox is an often-fatal disease caused by the Variola virus. In the late 1970s a worldwide immunisation program eradicated the disease, with the last outbreak being in 1977. It was declared extinct in 1980. Prior to this it killed millions of people each year. Bangladesh was one of the last places where it was eradicated. Ninety-five percent of the 12,000 smallpox cases reported in 1975 occurred there. Movements of people caused by disastrous flooding spread the disease throughout the country. Photographed in 1975, at the Dacca Hospital for Communicable Diseases, Bangladesh.