Biosecurity

How the USSR defeated a smallpox epidemic in a matter of 19 days

...On January 15, the news of the smallpox outbreak reached the country's leadership, who immediately mobilized all the resources of Moscow hospitals, clinics, police departments and the KGB. A search for potential carriers of the dangerous virus went on round-the-clock.

Everyone whom Kokorekin had met and spoken to, whom his relatives had been in contact with, who had received his gifts from India were quarantined. Thus, 150 students from the university where his daughter Valeria was studying were taken to hospitals straight from lectures.

From primary contacts, the search progressed to secondary contacts and so on, until the whole chain was established. People were taken off trains and airplanes that carried potentially infectious people were ordered to turn back mid-air.

A total of 9,342 people were placed under quarantine. The Botkin Hospital, where patient zero had spent his last days, was in lockdown. Since there was not enough linen for thousands of doctors and patients trapped inside the hospital, by a special decree, the emergency state reserve, intended for the event of a war, was allowed to be used.
Eliminating the threat

A decisive measure in preventing the spread of smallpox was universal vaccination of all residents of Moscow and Moscow Region - adults, children and even those who were dying. Literally within a week, more than 9.5 million people were vaccinated - an unprecedented case in history.