1963 smallpox epidemic in Wrocław

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1963 smallpox epidemic in Wrocław
Protective clothing worn by health workers during the epidemic
Disease	Smallpox
Virus strain	Variola vera
Location	Polish People's Republic
Index case	A public officer returning from India (or another Asian country)
Dates	17 July - 19 September 1963
Confirmed cases	99
Deaths	7

An outbreak of smallpox occurred in the city of Wrocław in Poland in the summer of 1963. The disease was brought to Poland by an officer in the Ministry of Public Security who had returned from India. The epidemic lasted for two months, causing 99 people to fall ill and seven to die. It caused Wrocław to close and quarantine itself.^[1][2]

It was one of the last smallpox outbreaks in Europe (the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak was last)^[3] and the biggest disease outbreak in Europe until the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

Poland started vaccination against smallpox in 1919 and eradicated it in 1937.^[5]

The officer who brought the virus was a lieutenant colonel, Bonifacy Jedynak. He had returned from Delhi, India on 22 May 1963 and became infected by an unknown disease. He went to the hospital of the interior ministry in Wrocław where he was diagnosed with malaria. Meanwhile, smallpox was transmitted to a nurse who had mild symptoms and was believed to have chickenpox.^[6][4] Her son, daughter and the attending doctor were infected and died later.^[4]

Lonia Kowalczyk was the first person who died because of the infection.^[7] On 15 July 1963, an anti-epidemic emergency was announced in the city, 47 days after the first case of the disease. 10,000 vaccines were delivered from the Polish capital Warsaw that day. Around 1 million vaccines were delivered from Soviet Union and from Hungary. Vaccination was mandatory from 1 August 1963. The non-stop vaccination centre was at Wrocław train station. The campaign took 2 months.

The initial estimate of WHO was that the epidemic would last for two years with 2,000 deaths. Thanks to fast response and availability of vaccination, the epidemic was suppressed and it was officially ended on 19 September 1963. 8.5 million people were vaccinated in total.^[4]