Rahima Banu

Rahima Banu Begum (Bengali: রহিমা বানু বেগম; born 16 October 1972)^[1] is the last known person to have been infected with naturally occurring Variola major smallpox, the more deadly variety of the disease.^[2][3]

Rahima Banu
Banu in 1975, displaying a smallpox-induced maculopapular rash
Born	Rahima Banu Begum (1972-10-16) October 16, 1972 (age 52)

Biography

Smallpox case

Rahima Banu's case of smallpox at three years old was reported to the public health officials on 16 October 1975.^[4][5] Her family lived in the village of Kuralia on Bhola Island in the Bangladeshi district of Barisal.^[6] Her case was reported to the local Smallpox Eradication Program team by an eight-year-old girl, Bilkisunnessa, who was paid 250 taka.^[7][8] Information on the case was forwarded via telegram to Donald Henderson, who led the World Health Organization's (WHO) campaign to eradicate the disease.^[9]

Following care provided by the WHO, Banu was declared cured on 24 November 1975.^[10][11] Scabs of the virus from her body were transferred to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office in Atlanta, where they are currently stored along with hundreds of other samples.^[12] Bhola Island remained under disease surveillance for ring vaccination of those with potential contact to her family.^[13] Her smallpox sample is formally known as "Bangladesh 1975" and informally described as the "Rahima strain".^[14]

Later life

Aside from her work as a housewife, Banu generated income for her family by posing for photos.^[15] In a 2009 interview, Banu lamented discrimination against her and her four children over health misinformation. After marrying a farmer at age 18, she sustained harassment from her in-laws over her widespread association with infectious disease.^[16][8] The WHO provided her family with a farm plot, but recent cyclones and rising sea levels have eroded the coastline and excessively salinated the soil. Thus, Banu's husband, Rafiqul Islam has shifted to pedaling a rickshaw to provide for the family.^[17][18]

In 2023, Banu criticized media depictions of her case as a public health success because her family's poverty has limited its access to safe housing, quality health care, and education for their children. Still, she expressed pride at contributing to the eradication of smallpox.^[18]

See also

• Ali Maow Maalin, last person infected with naturally occurring Variola minor smallpox and last case of smallpox in general
• Janet Parker, last known person to die from smallpox

References

1. Goodfield, June (1991). A Chance to Live. Macmillan Publishing Company. p. 4. ISBN 9780025446557.
2. Tucker, Jonathan B. (2016). Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox. Grove Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780802139399.
3. Pendergrast, Mark (2010). Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-15-101120-9.
4. Hopkins, Donald R. (2002). The Greatest Killer: Smallpox in History. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226351681.
5. Huber, Peter (2013). The Cure in the Code: How 20th Century Law is Undermining 21st Century Medicine. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-06981-1.
6. Kelley, Bob (2015). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Arcadia Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 9781439649466.
7. Goodfield, June (1985). Quest for the Killers. Birkhauser. ISBN 978-0-8176-3313-4. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
8. "Home - Public Health Image Library(PHIL)". Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
9. Henderson, D.A. (15 October 2010). "Interview with D.A. Henderson, sourced at History of Vaccines website". College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
10. Joarder, A. Kashem; Tarantola, D.; Tulloch, J. (1980). The eradication of smallpox from Bangladesh. World Health Organization, South-East Asia Regional Office. p. 48. ISBN 9789290221081.
11. Garrett, Laurie (1994). The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance. Macmillan. p. 45. ISBN 9781429953276.
12. McKenna, Maryn (2008). Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781439104958.
13. Preston, Richard (2003). The Demon in the Freezer. Random House. p. 91. ISBN 9780345466631.
14. Felker, Clay (2000). The Best American Magazine Writing 2000. PublicAffairs. p. 82. ISBN 158648009X.
15. Kotar, S. L.; Gessler, J. E. (2013). Smallpox: A History. McFarland. p. 374. ISBN 9780786468232.
16. "Asia Marks 30 Years since World Declared Free of Smallpox". Voice of America. 2 November 2009. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
17. Escarce, Alissa; Jahan, Dil Afrose (20 May 2022). "How Rahima Came to Hold a Special Place in Smallpox History — And Help Ensure Its End". NPR. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
18. Gounder, Céline (8 November 2023). "What I Learned From the World's Last Smallpox Patient". KFF Health News. Retrieved 13 November 2023.

External links

• The village of Kuralia