Smallpox Scabs That British Doctors Used to Inoculate Patients May Have Introduced the Deadly Disease to Australia, New Research Suggests

Recent research suggests that British doctors in the late 18th century may have inadvertently brought smallpox to Australia through scabs used in inoculations. These colonists' arrival on ships brought the deadly disease, which decimated Aboriginal communities with much higher fatality rates than previously recorded. This discovery sheds new light on the devastating impact of colonial encounters and highlights the often-overlooked consequences of early medical practices on indigenous populations.