Today, smallpox is no longer a concern. Since about 1980, it has been eradicated from the planet through a comprehensive and worldwide vaccination program. Before it was vaccinated, it was a deadly killer.
Smallpox decimated the population of the Indigenous Peoples throughout the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It also impacted many new arrivals to Canada. Whenever immigrants landed in Canada, they had to be assessed to make sure they were not infected with the disease. In many cases, those with the severe form of the disease saw a 30 per cent mortality rate.
In 1946, smallpox had mostly been eradicated from Canada, but before that, there were several outbreaks of the disease.
In the early-20th century, smallpox was still a killer but due to a growing vaccination effort, it was slowly being eradicated.
The Vermilion area was not free from the disease during this time.
In mid-November 1911, Smallpox broke out at a hotel in Mannville and a quarantine was established. To keep the quarantine in place, Royal Northwest Mounted Police Constable McPhail was put in charge.
The Edmonton Journal wrote,
“The health officials are using their utmost efforts to prevent the spread of the disease.”
The hotel remained under quarantine for the next few weeks as everyone waited to see if the disease was going to spread. Nearby in Kitscoty, a vaccination program was put in place after a commercial traveller came through the area and may have been infected with the disease. His quarantine lasted only four days before he was allowed to go on his way.
The Lloydminster Times said,
“There are many sore arms (not heads) in the town these days on account of the recent vaccination of those quarantined.”
By December with no more infections and thankfully no deaths, life got back to normal in the Vermilion area.
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