the smallpox outbreak in listenbourg

 For our last action project of the disease class, we had to make a news report on an outbreak of a disease. The disease had to be real, but we were allowed to make up a fictional incident of the outbreak. So, I put the outbreak in Listenbourg’s capitol city of Lurenburg 

Here’s a news article from the incident:

26/12/1975

                                 LISTENBOURG FACES QUARANTINE

In the Listenbourgian capital city of Lurenburg, there is currently a smallpox outbreak due to an oversight in the country’s laws not mandating its vaccination. Because of this, the Listenbourg tourism industry has slowed and its application to join the EU has stalled. So far, a third of the city’s population of 80,000 has fallen ill. The disease’s main symptoms include fever, sores, and vomiting. Left untreated, it will eventually grow scabby blisters on the skin. Currently, the EU is sending loans for the country’s response, and the uninfected are in the process of being vaccinated after a vaccination mandate passed in the Listenbourg senate. Until now, the disease has been on a decline due to worldwide vaccination. Currently, the r0 of smallpox rests between 3.5 and 6, meaning anyone with smallpox usually infects between 3 and 6 people. The reason for such a high rate, is because the vaccination in listenbourg was not mandatory until recently. Spain, Portugal, and France have limited border travel and trade from Listenbourg in order to prevent the outbreak from worsening.

works cited:

“Listenbourg.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listenbourg. 

S;, Gani R;Leach. “Transmission Potential of Smallpox in Contemporary Populations.” Nature, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11742399/. 

“Signs and Symptoms.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 June 2016, https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/symptoms/index.html. 

“Vaccine Basics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8 Aug. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/vaccine-basics/index.html.