121 12 2286 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/ff2c1f1c3d3c1897a983062e3a76e2d3.jpg b119c483da7ce5e9c4aff054054e1608 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/fbb5466d1fb6254baf543bb124d2ad4c.pdf 09cf8366c7d7f1119912c3f9050f7d85 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Smallpox Description An account of the resource <div class="landing"> <p>Smallpox disease was declared eradicated in 1980, the result of a collaborative global campaign. To date, it is the only disease affecting humans to be eradicated from the world. Global eradication of smallpox ranks among the great achievements of humankind. Gone, through determined human effort, is a disease which has brought death to millions, frequently altering the course of history, and traveling through the centuries to every part of the world.  </p> <p>The vital contributions made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are highlighted. Official government correspondence, meeting transcripts, policy statements, surveillance reports and mortality statistics tell a part of that story. Adding depth to these traditional archives are the personal stories of the public health pioneers who worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the smallpox eradication campaign.</p> <p>The links above connect you to a database of oral histories, photographs, documents, and other media.</p> <p>Use of this information is free, but please see <strong>“About this Site”</strong> for guidance on how to acknowledge the sources of the information used</p> </div> Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound. <pre><strong> Interview Transcript </strong> This is an interview with Dennis Olsen on July 14, 2006, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, about his involvement with the West African Smallpox Eradication Project. The interview is being conducted as part of a reunion marking the 40th anniversary of the launch of the program. The interviewer's name is Diane Drew. Drew: Could you start by telling me a little bit about your background- where you grew up, your schooling, and how you got headed into whatever career decisions you made? Olsen: I was born in 1939. I grew up in Danville, Oregon. My folks moved there in '41. All my schooling through high school was there. Then I went off to the University of Oregon and got a degree in science. And as part of the college leaving process, I went over to the placement office. I was thinking, "I know I'm going into the military, but I'll talk to some folks who are here talking about their companies and organizations." I'd never given public health a thought. And a gentleman by the name of E. J. Spyke, Jerry Spyke, was there representing the Centers for Disease Control. I was quite intrigued and thought, "Well, this would be maybe a good starting point." Government service had never really crossed my mind, but I didn't have any money whatsoever and knew I wouldn't have any coming out of the military. I accepted the position that was offered and thought, "Well, I'll do that for a while and see what it's like, and then probably go back to school to get a graduate degree," as people were doing in those days as a matter of course rather than desire, and I stayed with CDC for 32 years. Drew: Wow! Olsen: Never did go back to school. Whatever other education I got was through the organization both in formal education and working in the field. Drew: And when you came to CDC, did you come to headquarters right at the beginning? Olsen: No. My assignment was the first trainee public health advisor to be assigned to the State of Washington, in Seattle. And I was in Seattle for I think 6 months, and then the second co-op (cooperative agreement) came, and I was transferred over to Tacoma, Pierce County. This was all working with the Venereal Disease Eradication Program. And I was there for 6 months. Then I was contacted by the regional office folks in San Francisco, CDC people. They asked if I was interested in becoming a recruiter for CDC, much the same as E. J. Spyke had recruited me. So I agreed to do that and was transferred down to Los Angeles because that was the base of operation for that. And for a while, I was the only one there doing that. Traveled in, I think, it was 9 Western states at the time, going to college campuses and, if there weren't college campuses, running ads in newspapers. Then I was joined by another fellow. And I think I did that for 3 years. Then I was asked if I was interested in going with a program that CDC was taking command of, to a certain degree, the Malaria Eradication Program. So I came back to Atlanta and was in training status. But as it worked out, there were differences of opinion as to who would really have control-USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development], who held the purse strings, or CDC, who had operational responsibility. And because they didn't agree, most of us in that training program never did see work in the field. I was to go to Costa Rica, but in the meantime was contacted by Billy Griggs to see if I wanted to go to West Africa and join the smallpox program. I agreed then to go and take that up as an assignment. I asked what country. It was either going to be Sierra Leone or Liberia, but I requested Liberia, and that's what happened. Carol and I got married just before going over. Drew: So you'd known each other before. Olsen: We'd known each other about a year. Drew: Did she come from Oregon originally, too? Olsen: Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was a civil sanitary engineer. She worked with the city of Los Angeles, CA. We did our training here in Atlanta in the months of July, August, and September, and we were happy to get to West Africa and Liberia. Drew: Was that a francophone country? Olsen: Anglophone country. Olsen: I think there was Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and there must have been one other. Drew: Nigeria? Olsen: Nigeria, they were already had public health advisors and physicians. But they may have been training some others to go. It's just too long ago for me to remember who all was there. But I do remember those other countries because I was selecting between Liberia and Sierra Leone. Drew: Was there a program already in operation by the time you got there? Olsen: No. Drew: You were basically sort of starting. Olsen: We were. Drew: Was your program like some of them, working with both measles control and smallpox eradication? Olsen: To my knowledge, at least for the group that went over at the time we did in '67, that was always the intention. Smallpox was the overriding issue and disease we were dealing with, but since we were there and giving vaccinations, the measles vaccine was provided, and that was also then administered. Drew: Tell me a bit, if you would, about traveling to Liberia and maybe the first few weeks or months there, both from your point of view and maybe about you and your wife in terms of kind of the cultural differences, who was setting up the program, any of that. Olsen: CDC was really thorough, I thought, and had experienced people to try to prepare us for the differences that we would find culturally and environmentally. And I don't remember that we had much of a cultural shock. We always say we had more coming home after 3 years than we did going. The States were overwhelming again with all the things available to you. You no longer could even make a decision on which tie to select because the selections were too great. But when we arrived in Liberia, I think the first thing that struck us was the architectural development, if you will, which was limited and so different, and just the tropical rainforest itself. You can only imagine these things and see pictures in books. But seeing it, I thought, yes, this is quite different than what we would have been thinking about. We were, of course, well taken care of by representatives from USAID. They were very kind to us and had housing available- not staffed or anything, but with a guest kit to get started. Dr. Shalimar [sp.] was the health officer for USAID; he and his wife were very gracious people. So it was an easy transition. Drew: Did they have a medical officer from CDC? Olsen: Not then. That came later. The issue around that was that a Dr. Pifer [John Pifer] was supposed to come. But there was an outbreak of war, in Benin, Nigeria, and so CDC had to make some staffing changes because the people in Benin, including Dr. Foege [William H. Foege], all had to leave. So Dr. Thompson [David M. Thompson] and his wife-I think they had one child at that time-came to Liberia, and Dr. Pifer eventually went off to Nigeria. But the Thompsons didn't show up for maybe 3 months or longer after we were already in country. For housing, they put us into a compound that had 2 duplexes. There were 2 other Americans there, a fellow with the Geologic Survey, Jim Sites, and Dorothy Deloof, who was a nurse for the Kennedy Hospital that was being built. And I guess they were both up-country or something. So Carolyn and I are there all alone. We have no phone, no outside road, no car. We're just there. The curtains on the windows were actually sheets. And we were then thinking, "All right, it's time to sleep," and then there's a huge thunder and lightning storm, and rain, which, coming off the ocean onto these corrugated tin roofs was extremely loud.. . And all of a sudden, there was a huge bright light and a big bang, and we pulled one of these curtain things back and looked out, and the lightning had hit a transformer on the pole just adjacent to the house. Fire was coming down the line toward the house and all we could do was sit there and watch it. It went out before it got particularly far. I guess one of us turned to the other one and said, "Let's go out to dinner." But we didn't even know where dinner was. We had been dropped off; we didn't know which direction was what, except the road to get back to the airport. The next day, life started to look more normal as we were introduced to the people at USAID. We started hiring staff for the house, which I'm sure Carolyn will be telling more about that than me. The way this usually happened was that some of the Liberian staff at USAID, knowing that you were new, would send their relatives over to see if they could be employed as staff. And there were little financial kickbacks for this. Well, one man showed up to be our houseboy. His name was Timma. He was a nice, gentle, older man. Carolyn hired him, and he was quite willing to work. But he did the laundry one day shortly thereafter, and we noticed that all of our clothing, our whites particularly, were sort of grayish-blue. He was hanging them on the leaves and things; he was seemingly ignoring the clothesline. Well, it turns out that Timma had on a country shirt, and the dyes in it, as he would wring these things out, were coming off on our clothes. So Timma got another job as our gardener. Then we were introduced to a young man by the name of David Parker, who stayed with us for 3 years, which was unusual because most people have several houseboys. But David and Carolyn and I hit it off. Then, work-wise, we were introduced to the Liberian public health system. It was, I think it's fair to say, primitive. It existed in Monrovia, the capital, but there's no infrastructure up-country for public health beyond some dilapidated buildingsand very poorly trained staff, who are not supervised and not really provided with medical supplies. One author wrote that,"Liberia never suffered the benefits of colonialism." Most of the other countries had been colonized and had developed infrastructure outside the capitol city. Liberia was proud that it had never been colonized Drew: I if I remember correctly, Liberia has ties to the United States in a sense, don't they? Olsen: Yes. Back in the 1800s, the 1840s maybe, there was this whole plan to move freed slaves back to the areas in from which they had originally come. This was most likely guess work for the most part. Drew: Sure. Olsen: The capital of Liberia is Monrovia. The then President was W.V.S Tubman. And their government is made up pretty much like the United States. It's a bicameral system, and their flag is a star and red and white stripes, things like that, so a lot of connection. Now, there was a lot of American money that went in to make sure that they had an opportunity to survive . . They were going to farm, but farming never really took hold. For awhile, they lived on the ships that they arrived on. Many people died from tropical diseases, etc. But, overtime survivors and new arrivals settled and developed what is now Liberia. In any event, we then were introduced to the public health system, and I was to have a counterpart, Dr. Thomas, a Liberian doctor. We were to report to a naturalized Liberian, a Haitian doctor, Dr. Titus. As CDC assignees we reported to, and received administrative assistance from, USAID. It all seemed to work reasonably well. It was hard to get things started. Dr. Thomas wasn't particularly insistent. We tried to move things from the training to go up-country, but there was always a little problem with getting gasoline for the vehicles and getting the teams organized. It was just slow- going. I think we were all just feeling each other out. I spent a lot of time in training programs because we were using Ped-O-Jet equipment, and so we spent a lot of classroom time in operations maintenance of it. And, of course, we had to wait for supplies to come in. There was always something in the early days that was keeping us from going up-country. Drew: That must have been kind of frustrating in terms of developing a program. Olsen: Yes. Since there wasn't really anything there, there wasn't a system that you could just tie into and say, "When these other things come, then we will make the changes and augment your program. Or we'll use some of your materials and supplies; we will then supplement that." There was just nothing. So we had to wait for the vehicles; we had to wait for the parts for the vehicles. Things broke down pretty easily. Drew: What was the prevalence of smallpox or measles? Olsen: It was pretty much unknown because the infrastructure wasn't there. There was no reporting system. Drew: So it wasn't that it didn't exist. It was just that you really didn't have any data to know? Olsen: I'm pretty sure that there wasn't much in the way of smallpox that I have heard about. We made early inquiries with the population up-country-the mining organizations and what health services existed (missionary hospitals)-to see, just as a quasi- surveillance system, what was going on. And I'm pretty sure that there wasn't any smallpox at that time. There had been a previous vaccination program run by an organization called Brothers Brothers that had gone through; I forget what years they conducted a program there. I heard varying reports as to how they were managed and what you could anticipate. Measles is a rash illness, and you would hear about it from folks who were coming down from up-country. So what I planned is that, number one, we needed to get the vaccination teams trained and up and running in the field. Surveillance had to sort of take care of itself. We knew there was smallpox in neighboring Sierra Leone, and so our plan was that it was the border that was most likely going to be impacted. We knew that there was an up-and-running program in the Ivory Coast, which was on the southeastern side of Liberia. That border would be much harder to get to logistically; we probably wouldn't leave for there until we could learn more as to where the prevalence of the disease was, if there was any. And as for the Guinea border up north, a couple of mining organizations weren't seeing any rash like illnesses so we weren't planning to go up that way initially. And once we got up and running and got supplies, it worked reasonably well. We had some good teams. We had 5 or 6 actual vaccination teams, 2 assessment teams. Olsen: These team members had to be pulled from other kinds of projects. That's the way it works in these countries where there are a limited number of resources. We established the logistics system to receive the goods and housed them at Mambo Point, which is where the "preventive health services" was. I had to set up a warehouse inside the building and train someone to do the warehousing and keep track of this and that. Vaccines were stored at the American Embassy-they had a huge freezer storage facility-because there was nothing, initially, in Monrovia that we could find. We eventually moved the vaccine supply out of there to a Montserado Fishing Company, which had freezer facilities. So when I went in to get the vaccines-the Liberians wouldn't go into those buildings - it was too cold for them. I had to go in. Drew: Really? Olsen: All the boxes and so forth smelled like fish. But that's where we stored the vaccines. Drew: Apparently, that was one of the difficulties that some folks faced when trying to deal with the measles vaccine, in particular, was . . . Olsen: Cold, always cold. Drew: Yes. Olsen: We helped solve the cold-chain problem, and I'll get to that. But one of the more difficult parts of distribution of the vaccines was lack of communications with the hinterland, no infrastructure, and then getting to and from these places. The road networks were poorly maintained dirt roads. And we had these big Dodge power wagons that were provided. They were far too big for what we needed. They were fine on for paved roads, but we only had like 50 miles of paved roads. So it was difficult to transport things, and a lot of walking was involved. And, of course, there's this cold-chain issue then, getting the ice. We would have been better off had we been able to negotiate for the kinds of vehicles that were going in because we could have used Toyota Land Cruisers, which were smaller. They were not the things that people run around in today with all the plushness and all the comfort]. They were much smaller. And, there was a Toyota dealership with a service department in Monrovia. And we solved, to the best we could, our cold-chain problems because there was a wide distribution of Lebanese merchants in our area. Wherever you'd go, to a village of any size or along the road, there would be a Lebanese merchant. And all of these merchants had functioning refrigerators. Drew: That's interesting. Olsen: And they'd keep them maintained for the goods that they would sell. They acted as the bankers for the locals and any number of different things, and this was all surely in agreement with the government so that they could stay in business. And the Lebanese merchants were kind enough to house the vaccines and give us ice for the chests and all that sort of thing, so that worked out reasonably well. Drew: Because they were sort of dispersed around the area. Olsen: They were dispersed all over the country. Drew: So it would almost be comparable to like being able to go to a bank that was located near where you were working and get what you needed? Olsen: Near enough that you could keep the vaccines cold and make the ice used when transporting the vaccines to the vaccination sites.. And then come back at another time, when appropriate, and get the vaccines and start all over again. Now, it worked as well as it could. There were also missionaries in areas with refrigeration, and they would allow the vaccines to be stored. It never worked very well trying to transport and use the kerosene operated refrigerators that were provided. We did not use them. Maintenance was a problem. If no one was around, the kerosene was stolen, and if you hired someone it just did not work out well. I remember we had a regional project meeting, in Abidjan I believe. Dr. Foege and the regional staff were interviewing us about our programs. And I mentioned to the group that we had this kind of cold-chain system, and Dr. Foege leaned over to someone and said, "Well, Liberia doesn't need more refrigerators. They need more Lebanese." We had our systematic way of covering the country. We had a public health education unit-not that we organized, that was provided through the Ministry of Health. They assisted us from time to time, with a great deal of our encouragement. They would go ahead to the villages and prepare them for our being in the neighborhoods. They would get the people in a central place so it would be easier for us logistically to maintain the vaccines, get there, and vaccinate. And invariably, the local chief didn't want to go to another chief's area: "Come to my area. I'm the chief." Politics works the same way everywhere. So we had a very difficult time getting people to congregate in large numbers so you could use the Ped-O-Jet most efficiently. But you just had to work with those things. Drew: And at that point in the program, wasn't the approach still to just do mass vaccinations? Olsen: Almost all of the time that I was there, 3 years, it was the mass vaccination approach. Just as I was leaving, the search-and- containment approach was, I think, being at least talked about, if not being implemented in some places. I didn't get involved with that until I went to India for the same purposes. There it was all search and containment. Drew: But you were saying that you did have a fairly systematic way of determining where you would go and what you would do? Olsen: Right, we'd sit down and work with our teams. We had 9 counties, if I remember the count. Some of which bordered Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast And at that time, a good portion of Liberia hadn't been mapped. It was tropical rainforest. So the teams, knowing their areas, would say, "Well, we know that such-and-such exists out here, so here's how we would cover it." And, of course, we had to rely on them. We couldn't be making these plans on our own. So one team would go out in advance to let the folks know that we were coming and try to do these things I just discussed with you, and then also map out where the villages were for sure. Small villages would move when an area had been farmed out. Drew: Why was that happening? Olsen: Farming. They would just move. If it was a sizable place that would be somewhat stable. If the villages were smaller-fewer huts and so forth, and they were temporary-then the people would go off and go somewhere else. But generally they were stable. We would supply the teams based on the teams' knowledge. I would go and do assessments myself. And if we ever had reports of rashlike illness, Dr. Thompson and or I would go, sometimes with a WHO [World Health Organization] assignee, and investigate. It was harder to get the Liberian senior medical personnel to go. They didn't like to leave Monrovia. Drew: I know in some countries that part of the mode of operating was to deal with the village chief or whoever the leader was. Did you pretty much have that type of introduction into the various developed areas? Olsen: Occasionally, if I went to a bigger place, I might see the paramount chief, or stay with the paramount chief, because there was no housing anywhere else. Quite often the teams would visit with the village elders because we couldn't be with the teams all the time. But, yes, the politics all had to be attended to. You didn't just show up and then say, "This is going to happen." You had to let them know that you were coming and let them make the decision. Then they would get their populations organized and motivate them, to the extent that they chose to do that. But that whole network, with the paramount chief down to the village chief, to then get down to Charley Brown's town, as one of them was called. Drew: Generally, were you fairly well received? Olsen: Always, always. I cannot remember a contentious time, a real problem that we couldn't overcome, working in Liberia in the villages. Now, we had lots of hours of frustration and difficulty at the ministry level because they're being impacted by any number of things. I wouldn't even pretend to know all them. They were responsible for providing the teams, they were responsible for providing the petrol and the monies to support the teams, and it was a constant battle. Whether the resources were limited or whether it was just a lack of priority sometimes, I can't be sure. Drew: And these would be Liberians? Olsen: Liberians. The doctors I've mentioned. Dr. Titus was exceptionally supportive. Dr. Thomas, who was our counterpart, the one I mentioned, he soon went off to get a graduate degree at Harvard. But Dr. Barkley, the Minister of Health, was strictly at the top, a politician, and I have a couple stories about that. I remember going to his office any number of times in a fairly short period, trying to get the chits for the petrol. They wouldn't release money. They would release chits, and we'd give them to the teams so they could give them to the operators of the petrol stations. And Dr. Barkley missed any number of meetings and kept me waiting and waiting and waiting. One day I thought I really had it done. I went to meet with him he didn't show up. I was angry. I left his office and when I got in our truck I slammed the door. And my driver, John Massakoui, a Liberian, started laughing. I said, "John, what is so blankety-blank-blank funny?" We knew each other quite well; we were together all the time. And he said, "Well, Dennis, this is just another one of those times when you learn that you're in Liberia, and here we beat the drums." So, okay. Drew: He probably knew, without your even explaining, more or less what had happened. Olsen: Yes. But it was always a fight for everything. And the team members would come to us, of course, because they couldn't get paid sometimes, and these personnel issues were very, very frustrating. You'd want to go, and you had to go, to the government and say, "You know, the teams aren't being attended to, and they need their salaries," and you wouldn't even get excuses. You would just be, more or less, ignored. It's hard to be that kind of go-between. Drew: Was it because they had their own agendas and their own timetable, or was it a certain amount of control or passive-aggressive kind of thing? They wanted to control the resources? Or they just had different priorities? Olsen: I think they may have had different priorities. I always felt that they wanted to support the project, but who knew what kind of influences were on them to do whatever? And I certainly wouldn't want to be accusing them of anything. We had our guesses sometimes as to how the resources were being distributed, for what purposes. You go through these times and you had to work with them, and I think we did reasonably well. Up until the end, we didn't see any smallpox, and I think our coverage rates for measles were as good as one could expect. That was a much more difficult thing to do. You could assess smallpox because of the vaccination scar. With measles, it was by guess and by gosh. You kept your tallies of the doses of vaccine administered, but that wasn't necessarily a true picture. And then we did see, at the end of my 3 years, a case of probable smallpox. My replacement, Mr. Randy Moser had already come into country, and the teams were up-country. I guess it was Mr. Coleman who came down, and he said, "We've got rash illness in this particular area, and we have taken that lady and her child to the hospital." I said, is she in quarantine?" And he said, "Well, to the extent possible. They may be going home at night. Nobody seems to care too much." So Randy and I jumped on a plane and went up there. The lady was there, in what served as the county hospital, and to us it looked like smallpox. So we took our samples. Got the cases properly contained in the hospital, (paid to get that done), took the samples and got them shipped back to CDC. And then, of course, we sent the teams up to start vaccinating. We thought that we had our first cases of smallpox. Then we got either a cable or a call-probably a cable because the phone system did not work well; we didn't have some of these other things that are very available now-saying that there's something strange happening with this sample, so "Get us some more samples." Dr. Thompson had already left, so it was just Randy and I. And I think the WHO representative, Dr. Hans Mayer, was gone as well. CDC sent another doctor from the smallpox program over, Dr. Pat Imparato and he reviewed what we had been doing, and he said, "Well, you've done pretty much all you can do from a medical standpoint. I've seen that you've sent the samples off." We got more samples. We sent them in. And it turned monkeypox. Drew: Oh, wow! Olsen: The transfer of another virus to humans. Drew: Wow, interesting. Olsen: Monkey was part of the diet. We'd already packed our household effects to return to the states. CDC sent people into Liberia then, searching and taking animal samples, blood samples and things, and it turned out to be monkeypox. There wasn't a widespread outbreak. I think it was actually contained either to just that lady and the child, or maybe 2 or 3 other people. Again, I was gone to the States by this time. But it did cause a lot of people to go in looking for a lot of things because I'm pretty sure we were considering that smallpox no longer existed in Central and West Africa. It was kind of a scary thing, thinking here we'd gone all these years, and now smallpox was cropping up. Drew: You're at the tail end, and all of a sudden you get hit by something like that. Olsen: Yes. And it was also at a time when we had to call the teams off of smallpox vaccination because there had been a cholera outbreak in West Africa. I was over in the offices in Liberia one afternoon. Usually, I was the only person in the office in the afternoon. The whole building emptied out. And Dr. Barkley, the Minister of Health, comes in, and says "There's an unusual event for you." I said, "What can I do to help you?" And he says, "What do you know about cholera?" And I said, "Oh, very, very little. I mean, we have some background information, of course, I've got a lot of books here. But why?" And he said, "Well, tomorrow we're going to start a mass vaccination campaign for cholera." I said, "What?" He said, "Well, President Tubman has been on the phone to President Sekou Toure of Guinea, and they have cholera in Guinea. I said, "Have they notified anyone officially?" He said, "They notified the World Health Organization." I said, "Is there vaccine in the country?" He said, "I don't know. I'm going to Evans Pharmacy to find out." This was kind of a British-run pharmacy in town, a very small operation. He said, "I want you to write a plan for the vaccination coverage." Drew: Surely this was at 3:00 pm on a Friday. That's when most everything seems to happen. Olsen: I don't know if it was Friday or not. But said I can write a plan and base it on our smallpox coverage. Find out who might be most at risk of cholera, knowing full well that cholera vaccine was considered by many people to be essentially worthless. But what about the other things: looking at the source; determining how many and what kind of beds the hospitals had? These kinds of things I had limited knowledge about, and nobody to contact on that particular afternoon to put this plan together. Drew: More like you knew the questions but you didn't know the answers? Olsen: Yes, I didn't know the answers. So I had a formulation of a plan that had to be fleshed out later on, of course. Well, Dr. Barkley went off and he reported back that they had 50 doses of vaccine in the country. I said, "It might not be particularly wise to mount a mass vaccination program since you've got no vaccine." WHO sent in 500 doses of vaccine right away. In any event, we mounted a sort of mass vaccination program. The first thing we had to do was go to the executive mansion and present the program to President Tubman. So I contacted USAID saying, "I've been asked to go, but I'm not representing the United States." So they sent the deputy, Dr. James, from USAID. And on the way up in the elevator to the executive suite, Dr. Barkley punched me in the ribs and said, "You're to present the plan." Well, I knew enough that if I, as an American, presented the plan, it becomes an American plan. Drew: So we met President Tubman. I had not had the pleasure of meeting him previously. He was an elderly gentleman in somewhat failing health, but very gracious. The first thing he did was to serve us all a scotch had. Drew: Single malt? Olsen: I don't remember. He sat us all down, and I was asked then to present the program, and I started by saying that, "At Dr. Barkley's request, and with all of us involved, we-we-"have come up with this" formulation"-not my formulation." And then he looked at Dr. Barkley for funding. Dr. Barkley looked at Dr. James. And President Tubman said, "Well, I will provide $50,000 towards this from the monies that the Congress (Liberian) has allowed for my new boat"-his new cruiser craft or something. "And, Dr. Barkley, you find the rest." Drew: Amazing. Olsen: Yeah. Drew: And, of course, $50,000 was more then than it is now, but still probably not a drop in the bucket in terms of what you need for funding? Olsen: It wasn't enough. So we presented the plan, and the only change that the President had was that the vaccine will not simply go to the areas that we have designated as being high risk. It would be distributed throughout the country so that all paramount chiefs and politicians in the regions would know that they hadn't been forgotten. This was a decision for him to make, not for us to make. Drew: Sure, sure. Olsen: Shortly thereafter, either a day or 2, we had the Radio Broadcasting Company of Liberia announce that the vaccines were there. We showed up one morning, and we had hundreds and hundreds of people outside waiting impatiently. The nurses were all ready, and we had the jet injectors to use. The nurses didn't want to use the jet injectors. They said they could go just as fast with the needles and syringes. And people were clamoring over the window casings. The people were required to get a form that was being run off on an old mimeograph machine. And so people were clamoring up the stairs to get their forms so they could come back and get vaccinated. It was utter chaos! Drew: And you knew that you did have enough doses, or did not have enough doses? Olsen: We never knew if we had enough vaccine. Drew: So you had that tension kind of biting at your heels too. Olsen: Yes. WHO was continuing to support the government and getting vaccine to them as quickly as it could. My only interest then was using the vaccines that we had and getting the people satisfied so that we could calm them down. And trying to reorganize at Mambo Point so that we could get the people mimeographing the forms outside of the vaccination area because the vaccinees having to come and go was just causing total chaos inside. Drew: And, of course, back in those times, it wasn't like you could email CDC and say, "Hey, I need some backup." Olsen: But there were cases of cholera, and it was totally out of my hands in planning the response. Thank goodness I didn't have to do any more with it. But all of the resources that were available and needed to be pressed into shape, including the staff at the hospital and the people who were there helping develop the Kennedy Hospital, they all got involved and had proper kinds of beds and so forth. And I left the country, so . . . Drew: Sounds like a pretty exciting time. Olsen: It was different. I mean, you're barely comfortable with what you've accomplished and organized in the smallpox program and the distribution of vaccines and getting people inoculated for measles and smallpox, then this happens. It was so totally disruptive. And you knew full well the limited resources. It was just going to change everything. And had we had an outbreak of smallpox at that time, I'm not sure what would have happened. Which situation would have taken precedence? Most likely the cholera because it's more of an immediate threat, more people being affected at that point. Drew: It must have been kind of amazing to be sort of on the line. Olsen: It was different. But I got to meet the President. Drew: And you got to speak to him?. Olsen: Yes. I was checking out of USAID when I met this gentleman whom I'd never seen at USAID before. He introduced himself. He said, "I understand that you were in a meeting with the President of Liberia last night ." And I said, "Yes. But I'm leaving 2 days from now." And he said, "Oh, damn, all my sources are leaving the country." Drew: And now a woman is President, correct? Olsen: Mrs. Sirleaf. Drew: Right. Olsen: Harvard educated, and she's got her work cut out for her. I think she's at least got a chance. I mean, the country had so many difficulties to begin with, and then this 8 or 9 years of war. One person described Liberia as "the infrastructure was destroyed and the culture was vaporized," something like that. It was just totally devastating. Young kids running around, apparently drugged up, with big weapons, killing everybody. But I had the good fortune of going back to Liberia before all that broke out. I mean, President Doe had already taken over, and the assassinations at that time had taken place. So I saw Liberia once again, in l980. (We had left in '70.) You couldn't see much in the way of change because there had been so little there to begin with. So you didn't see the infrastructure breaking down, but it apparently was happening. The economy was just going to pot. Although potentially it could have been a reasonably wealthy country with its rubber plantations; iron ore that was very pure; and they had this international free port, and a lot of ships sail with the Liberian flag, so there must have been some sizeable income from that.[ Drew: Did you have any children born over there? . Olsen: No. My wife and I didn't. But the Thompsons, at least one of their children was born there. They had a good medical service there with a mission hospital called ELWA:"Eternal love wins Africa," I think. My wife Carolyn and I say that we went to Africa at the right time. The countries were gaining their independence. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for the future. They were getting to make their own decisions and realize their own successes and failures. Drew: And I'll bet corruption hadn't gotten quite as much of a toehold at that point maybe. Olsen: You know, it's easy to see corruption in a smaller setting than it is in a big country like this one, so you could see it happening. There was a give-and-take there. I remember Dr. Titus commenting to me once: "The way the system works here, Dennis, is that the President allows everybody to take a little bit. But if you take too much or it gets reported to him that you're getting too much, then you are going to be jailed." And people were . . . Drew: So it's kind of like this unwritten system. Olsen: Yeah. But we enjoyed our time there. We think very highly of the Liberians. And given the opportunity in a different kind of situation, with what's going on there now, we'd do it all over again if it were possible. And it enthused us so much that we've always had an interest in international work and travel. I was fortunate enough to continue my international work in Africa and Asia. And nowadays we just pick up and travel 3 months out of the year to see the world. Drew: That's great. # # # </pre> Player html for embedded player to stream video content <iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310167954%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-VrOTt&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="166"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound recording - nonmusical interviews Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-07-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/158xx emory:158xx Subject The topic of the resource USAID Operations Officer Smallpox Eradication CDC WHO Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 563522736 bytes audio/x-aiff Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Drew, Diane (Interviewer); CDC; Nurse Olsen, Dennis (Interviewee); CDC; Operations Officer Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Centers for Disease Control Reunion of West and Central Africa Smallpox workers (2006 : Atlanta, Georgia) Title A name given to the resource OLSEN, DENNIS Description An account of the resource Dennis Olsen was working for CDC when the opportunity arose to join the Smallpox Eradication Program in West Africa in Liberia as an Operations Officer. David speaks of arriving in Liberia and starting up the smallpox and measles vaccination effort there - even storing the vaccines in the freezers of a local fishing company or refrigerators of local Lebanese merchants. Dennis reflects on the politics of vaccination in the villages and with government officials, coping with a cholera outbreak, and a case of monkeypox. Dennis went on to have a 32-year career with CDC. Language A language of the resource English https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/d9d3344841f7ee1e31cbf1119e18815e.jpg b119c483da7ce5e9c4aff054054e1608 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/b9b13dc7be656fa4160662dd5f22a075.pdf 9d00fbcda7d3d95f10ace91b05468fde Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Smallpox Description An account of the resource <div class="landing"> <p>Smallpox disease was declared eradicated in 1980, the result of a collaborative global campaign. To date, it is the only disease affecting humans to be eradicated from the world. Global eradication of smallpox ranks among the great achievements of humankind. Gone, through determined human effort, is a disease which has brought death to millions, frequently altering the course of history, and traveling through the centuries to every part of the world.  </p> <p>The vital contributions made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are highlighted. Official government correspondence, meeting transcripts, policy statements, surveillance reports and mortality statistics tell a part of that story. Adding depth to these traditional archives are the personal stories of the public health pioneers who worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the smallpox eradication campaign.</p> <p>The links above connect you to a database of oral histories, photographs, documents, and other media.</p> <p>Use of this information is free, but please see <strong>“About this Site”</strong> for guidance on how to acknowledge the sources of the information used</p> </div> Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound. <pre><strong> Interview Transcript </strong> INTERVIEW Audio File: Dennis Olsen Audio File Transcribed: January 24, 2009 Melissa McSwegan: This is an interview with Dennis Olsen on July 11th, two thousand eight at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia about his role in the smallpox eradication campaign. The Melissa McSwegan is Melissa McSwegan. With this interview we're hoping to capture for future generations the memories of participants and their families involved in eradicating small pox. This is an incredibly important and historic achievement and we want to hear about your experience. I have some questions to guide you but please feel free to recount any special stories or anecdotes that you remember about events or people. The legal agreement you signed says that you are donating the oral history to the U.S. Federal government and it will be in the public domain. Now, for the record could you please state your name and that you know you are being recorded. Dennis Olsen: My name is Dennis G. Olsen and I know that I'm being recorded. Melissa McSwegan: Okay, great. Thank you. So to start out with could briefly describe your childhood, your college education and how that led into you working in public health? Dennis Olsen: Well, I grew up in Bend Oregon and all of my pre-college schooling there. Went off to the University of Oregon then for my college work and I can honestly say that none of that prepared me for a role in public health. My first inclination to be involved in public health was through the University of Oregon placement service where I met a CDC colleague E. J. Spike and I was recruited at the CDC and spent thirty two years with the organization. Melissa McSwegan: Okay. Well great. Well how did you then become involved with the smallpox eradication [inaudible 01.53]? Dennis Olsen: I was first recruited to come back to Atlanta out of my assignment in Los Angeles California to actually be involved with the early malaria eradication effort and as the politics of that were working their way through Washington and it was determined that what the plans had been were not going to come fruition, I was contacted to ask if I wanted to go to West Africa for smallpox eradication. Agreed to do that, got married to my lovely wife and off we went to the country of Liberia and spent three years there. After returning from that we knew then eventually that the Indian program was going on and made overtures to be one of the people who went to India for a three month assignment. At the conclusion of that and the enjoyment of that work and the colleagues from around the world and the imminent success of the program I asked if I could go back for a longer term and was - we were accepted and returned for a two year stint and that time I was named the WHO World Health Organization coordinator of the smallpox eradication effort in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a population of about one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty million people. My role was to assure that the program policies were being carried out, searches were being conducted, that the international staff and the Indian domestic staff that were working on the effort had the resources that they needed to carry out the function, to do spot assessments of the work at the primary health care centers and/or hospitals. Handle largely also to be the banker and make sure all the funds were flowing in the right direction. A very enjoyable experience and I met a lot of interesting people. Besides Uttar Pradesh my wife and I went to Bangladesh for a three to four week period of time to assist in one of the major searches and quite possibly look at an assignment in Bangladesh that they were - they need an administrator and I'm a public health advisor and not a physician. We decided that we're - we appreciated more the Indian aspects of that project and returned to Lucknow and carried out those functions for another, I'm guessing now - six to seven months and then we were reassigned into Delhi in the regional office in order to be the senior administrator for the program for its duration in India and participated with the international commission to declare India smallpox free. So, quite an interesting period of time for us and we really enjoyed the work. Melissa McSwegan: Describe a little bit your relationship with your - with the host country counterparts in India and Bangladesh? Dennis Olsen: On the first assignment, the three month assignment, we were working directly with the - I was assigned to a city in Bihar state or a town called Bhagalpur along the Ganges and our immediate relationship was with the health officer of that town. And the people who had gone before of which there were at least two others possibly three, had developed a strong working relationship so my fitting into that was just a simple as it possibly could be. There was absolutely not difficulty at all. We could work and do what it was that was required, got support to the extent that it was available from the locals and of course a lot of support from Cyro in Delhi. So it was a very easy experience that way. And all of the people, staff for the most part at the primary health care centers had been heavily involved with the effort to eradicate smallpox and participated to the extent that their abilities allowed. There were those times when we had to do a little extra encouragement in some areas and so forth but we still had very strong support of the local health officer and the Indian government from Delhi. Those people made periodic visits to assure that these relationships were maintained and overcame any of the infrequent difficulties that approached. When I became the WHO coordinator in Uttar Pradesh then I worked directly with the Minister of Health for that state and the staff at the other levels in order to carry out the functions. Again these things went very smoothly because of the overall direction of the Indian government from Delhi and the support that they provided to the program and those relationships never got in the way of carrying out the function. That is why I think the program was successful to a large degree. Melissa McSwegan: What would you say would have been the biggest challenge while you were there? Dennis Olsen: That's a hard question. There were - the challenges of first of all motivating the population to report rash like illness. So many other things were impacting on the population. Of course we instituted a reward system, a financial reward system to help with that. The difficulties of just getting around in the country. Not all areas had a road network been established. Quite often those that were established were interrupted for flow of water to farm. Quite often where we had to go roads had never been established so just getting to investigate an outbreak, getting to it was difficult. Getting supplies sometime the area were difficult. Heat, surviving in certain areas was difficult but all of those things could be overcome. It just took a little bit longer to do things than one might have hoped for. Melissa McSwegan: And what do you think - you've talked a little bit about the relationships that you've had and other things that helped it to be very successful but what do you think were the greatest successes that you had during that time? Dennis Olsen: Well the great success was that smallpox eradicated and I think that also a success to show that through a combined effort and the cooperation you could - excuse me - tackle a difficult situation and have some success from it and therefore the encouragement to continue with whatever effort you were in. Quite often we were approached out in the hinterland if you will about doing something for other sets of problems that existed in the country. Something to do with water, something to do with sanitation, to go beyond our scope of work in smallpox eradication to add some assistance or input into these levels. And of course we would report these sorts of requests back through the system but I think our experience and our being on site and the success of the program probably led, I think there is evidence that it did lead to attention being paid to these sorts of circumstances and problems as well and having them attacked when resources and political support were provided. Melissa McSwegan: How did your family adapt to living abroad both in Africa or in India? Dennis Olsen: Well, my wife were together. We don't have children. We're still married so. My wife Carolyn actually was quite involved in the Indian program. Some of the things that I would make recommendations to the central offices in Delhi with technical graphs and so forth that had to do with demonstrating how you could show your project was moving in a certain direction or had these successes or these failures, Carolyn being an engineer and having these kinds of talents put these together. So - and she went with me on the searches out into the field and through her own oral history she'll tell you some very interesting stories from her side but I probably would not have made the full two years if she hadn't have been there. Melissa McSwegan: So, what was it like living in India beyond the working environment, just living in India and participating in the culture? Dennis Olsen: Well, I can tell you from my - I had already been to Africa with that program and so when I thought, not thought but had been accepted to go to India the African situation would prepare me and it was largely true. But I do remember getting off the plane in New Delhi and the heat and the just large numbers of people and the immediate difference with - just an overwhelming humanity kind of thing, I thought what in the world have I gotten myself into. And we had a few days of training in Delhi then we were set out into the field to be with colleagues that had already been in the country two to three months to gain some experience. And I met a good friend Ras Charter in Bareilly who showed me how to get the jeep stuck as soon as you could but did demonstrate how work was done in the field. And then I went off to my assignment and met another CDC person waiting for me in Bhagalpur, Dr. David Hayman who had been there for a couple of months and he was kind of a light yellow. He had hepatitis so I thought well if he can put up with that I can put up with whatever is here. But I - Bhagalpur was a small place in comparison to the capital of Bihar, Patna. Patna was a small place compared to Delhi and I guess the point of this story is when I got back to Delhi after three months it looked like a large European city that I can definitely survive in. That's when - with that successful three months I asked Dr. Henderson - D. A. Henderson - and Dr. Bill Fergie if it would be possible to come back to India for a longer period. And after that longer period both my wife and I asked again if there was some way to stay with an active program be it immunization, diarrheal disease control, malaria, whatever it is that we might do to remain in India because we enjoyed the experience so much. We met a lot of interesting people. The Das family Lucknow. We lived above their residence. The people that we rented from in New Delhi, people in the field, it was just a pleasurable two years. Melissa McSwegan: Have you maintained any of your relationships with people you met in India probably? Dennis Olsen: You know thirty years have passed and I'm not sure how many people are - but the answer to that, short answer to that is not from the Indian side although I understand I will be seeing - we will be seeing a Dr. Dada who was a senior person in the Ministry of Health. He's in town and I look forward to renewing that relationship. We have shared with our CDC colleagues and others over the years when reliving these experiences, honing our lives and things like that. Melissa McSwegan: What would you say are your most memorable moments from working with the smallpox campaign? Dennis Olsen: Oh my goodness. One was going out to the very first smallpox investigation in Bhagalpur with Dr. Hayman. We had to walk through the rice paddies and wade through a river and my shoes were not appropriate. I lost the nails off both big toes, had full foot blisters underneath the - on my bottoms of my feet. Had to have tea and sugar and salts to get the electrolytes up and rode out on a donkey. It was - thanks to Dr. Hayman. Other experiences, I have to take some time to reflect. The international commission we happened to be there at the end of our assignment when they actually the commission came and announced that smallpox was eradicated from India. That was so satisfying to have spent the time and then to actually be there at a moment when history had been made. That will certainly be hard to - I will never forget it. And the others I think were just the individual relationships we made with people. The staff in Lucknow from the secretary to the very important and very good friend paramedical assistant Rujinder Singh. It's just things like that that stick with you and if it ever could happen again would not hesitate at all to do it again. Melissa McSwegan: And how would you say working with this campaign has affected your life and career since then? Dennis Olsen: Well I don't have a career anymore. I retired in nineteen ninety four. Affected our lives is that we're extremely proud that we had the opportunity to do it. I like to think that we did it well and enjoy the relationships that we still have with people that went over and did these sorts of things and days like today when we're back to remember what we all went through. It wasn't always easy. I don't ever want to let people think that it was just all good times and success. We lived in very harsh conditions a lot of the time and we put ourselves in jeopardy many times but just the pride of having done it, the pride of success and listening just this morning to what's happening with global programs. We like to think that maybe we were in a small way part of what allowed these things that now happening to move forward and hopefully enjoy some of the success that we had. We did the pioneer work they live to say. Melissa McSwegan: At what point during the program while you were working on it, at what point did you know that smallpox would be eradicated? Dennis Olsen: The day they announced it. Melissa McSwegan: So you weren't convinced until then? Dennis Olsen: Well you know you always wait for the next person to come forward and say we have a report of rash like illness. And you might have gone for six or seven months or a year and think you know this is pretty much it, we're sort of wrapping so it can happen. When I left Liberia in the African program we were sure for a whole year that we had not smallpox, quite successful and then someone came down from upcountry and said we have a woman and child in the hospital with rash like illness that looks like smallpox. So, when I - my wife and I were just ready to leave the country. Our assignment was over and my replacement had arrived so the same thing could have happened in India. As it turned out the African issue was monkey pox not smallpox but once they made the announcement in India we had assurances after many, many searches that there was no illness, no smallpox. Of course the search went on for anther couple of years to continue to assure that. It really didn't end at that point. It was the point where we said that we had reached that particular part of the goal but we had to confirm it again. Melissa McSwegan: What were the important lessons that you learned from smallpox eradication that you then applied to other parts of your career afterwards? Dennis Olsen: Well, the career after that was some domestic program work in childhood immunizations, then international work in HIV Aids and some work with international immunizations, diarrhea disease control and malaria control. For the international things what was learned was how to deal in an international setting. What things had to be attended to, to allow the program to have some success in the relationships that you needed to develop with the host country. How important it was to assure that you had the proper logistics before you tried, got the plan established and the logistics to carry it out and the resources to carry it out. And the important, very important tools of assessment. Continuing to look to see where you were along the road to trying to achieve your objective. Not just assuming you were doing okay but actively making sure from tools to asses your program activities and a personal relationship skills were honed I think. How to make sure that you were for example whatever credit might be accruing that you made sure it was the local that got the recognition. We knew we were doing okay, we didn't need to be told. So those kinds of things. I think those are always helpful. They are the more mundane things about improving your writing skills and these sorts of things but I think I touched on the more important. Melissa McSwegan: Now you have spoken a lot about the successes of the program. If you had been the one running the entire program worldwide is there anything that you would have done differently, that you would have changed about it? Dennis Olsen: No, I don't think so. How can you fight with success? You know I never ever thought of myself having those kind of capabilities. When you work for someone like D.A. Henderson, Bill Fergie, those are the people that have those visions and skills and at that level it's just a happy occasion that we got to be able to be a part of it. I can't think of anything I would change. Melissa McSwegan: Well do you have anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Dennis Olsen: No, I think we've pretty much covered the territory. Melissa McSwegan: All right. Well, thank you very you much for your time and I appreciate you sharing with us your experience in India. Dennis Olsen: Thank you very much for doing this. </pre> Player html for embedded player to stream video content <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vMgriQjaR74" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource interviews moving image Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-07-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/16rjx emory:16rjx Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 4643160000 bytes video/x-dv Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McSwegin, Melissa (Interviewer) Olsen, Dennis (Interviewee) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Centers for Disease Control Title A name given to the resource OLSEN, DENNIS Description An account of the resource Dennis Olsen describes his experiences as a CDC Operations Officer and Manager in the Smallpox Eradication Program in India 1972-1974. <br />Interviewed by Melissa McSwegin. Subject The topic of the resource Smallpox Eradication WHO Language A language of the resource English https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/ec66c83651d7b2d1beceb1316dcfb911.JPG b16b6926d78cc5b1fd805990f3dd289c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource HIV/AIDS Media Powerpoints, Recorded lectures, movies, training films, and interviews Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ON THE WRONG TRACK Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-1991 Description An account of the resource America Responds to AIDS [ARTA] "On the Wrong Track." "Anna is going out with a guy who shoots drugs. She is making a big mistake. He could get AIDS by sharing needles, and Anna could get AIDS from him. She has choices: make him stop or get him some counseling and drug treatment; get rid of him; or at least make sure that when they have sex, he wears a condom." Prevention; Education; Drug Use; Heroin; Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/84ec7a1a210e1b5fc69c24778d8a2e85.jpg b60ee8f467b10c3b733dd42f292369c9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource HIV/AIDS Media Powerpoints, Recorded lectures, movies, training films, and interviews Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ONE TEST, TWO LIVES Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000s Description An account of the resource "Even if a mother has HIV, her baby doesn't have to. Get tested for HIV before your baby is born." English/Spanish sides. Mothers; Children; Testing; Education; Prophylactics Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived HHS, CDC https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/fedb7d85dcdd64b692f73e6dfddc17b8.JPG 54c62a89b98bc253b5e55787ed71813d https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/586bc3f2eaa109ea1317f87b1cfce596.pdf c41c2c1387698d10b0bc0ede9a787a91 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Smallpox Description An account of the resource <div class="landing"> <p>Smallpox disease was declared eradicated in 1980, the result of a collaborative global campaign. To date, it is the only disease affecting humans to be eradicated from the world. Global eradication of smallpox ranks among the great achievements of humankind. Gone, through determined human effort, is a disease which has brought death to millions, frequently altering the course of history, and traveling through the centuries to every part of the world.  </p> <p>The vital contributions made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are highlighted. Official government correspondence, meeting transcripts, policy statements, surveillance reports and mortality statistics tell a part of that story. Adding depth to these traditional archives are the personal stories of the public health pioneers who worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the smallpox eradication campaign.</p> <p>The links above connect you to a database of oral histories, photographs, documents, and other media.</p> <p>Use of this information is free, but please see <strong>“About this Site”</strong> for guidance on how to acknowledge the sources of the information used</p> </div> Documents Government Records Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource government records text Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 1st, 1975 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/83qn8 emory:83qn8 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 12780940 bytes application/pdf Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Foege, William (Author); WHO/CDC ; Advisor Title A name given to the resource OPERATIONAL GUIDE – India Description An account of the resource “Operation Smallpox Zero: Provisional Draft,” a detailed action plan for the end phase of the smallpox eradication program in India. Includes a documentation of the actions necessary for surveillance and containment in India. By William Foege, Government of India, National Smallpox Eradication Program, World Health Organization, Global Smallpox Eradication Program. Subject The topic of the resource Smallpox eradication. India Surveillance and containment Language A language of the resource English India Smallpox Eradication Surveillance and Containment https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/956fd94526cd12dc8b89fa6e183d6992.pdf 3d742718a7460d89ae6c841027ae2afb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Smallpox Description An account of the resource <div class="landing"> <p>Smallpox disease was declared eradicated in 1980, the result of a collaborative global campaign. To date, it is the only disease affecting humans to be eradicated from the world. Global eradication of smallpox ranks among the great achievements of humankind. Gone, through determined human effort, is a disease which has brought death to millions, frequently altering the course of history, and traveling through the centuries to every part of the world.  </p> <p>The vital contributions made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are highlighted. Official government correspondence, meeting transcripts, policy statements, surveillance reports and mortality statistics tell a part of that story. Adding depth to these traditional archives are the personal stories of the public health pioneers who worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the smallpox eradication campaign.</p> <p>The links above connect you to a database of oral histories, photographs, documents, and other media.</p> <p>Use of this information is free, but please see <strong>“About this Site”</strong> for guidance on how to acknowledge the sources of the information used</p> </div> Documents Government Records Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource government records text Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 1st, 1966 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/15j4k emory:15j4k Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf 42477967 bytes Subject The topic of the resource USAID Manual of Operations CDC WHO Smallpox Eradication Title A name given to the resource OPERATIONAL GUIDE – West and Central Africa Description An account of the resource “Manual of Operations,” a detailed action plan for the development of the Smallpox Eradication/Measles Control Program in Africa based on World Health Organization suggestions and U.S. experience with field epidemiology and vaccination. Produced by the U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Communicable Disease Center, Smallpox Eradication Program, West and Central African Smallpox Eradication/Measles Control Program. Language A language of the resource English CDC Manual of Operations Smallpox Eradication USAID WHO https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/b8bfe6902e40077daeec4dea23fd92d6.pdf b41d81cffb25d49c84b4b67e107cfd2c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource HIV/AIDS Documents Government Records Keywords June 6, 1982, Janowski, Epidemiologist, Florida, Department of Health, Rehabilitation Services, Haitian, Miami, May, 1982, demographic, cultural, data, CNS toxoplasmosis, Kaposi's Sarcoma, opportunistic infections, Nachman, anthropologist, Conze, Alec, Irwin, April 28, 1982, information, collected, cases, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, cryptococcal meningitis, immunosuppression, group, "chicken vs. the egg", malnutrition, mycobacterial, lymphocytes, KSOI, studies, Haverkos, interviewers, place, birth, U.S, foods, voodoo, marital status, residence, age, sex, group, I.D, cases Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTION: Haitian Refugees Description An account of the resource LETTER FROM: H. Haverkos, Member, Task Force on Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections. TO: H. Janowski, Acting State Epidemiologists, Florida Department of Health Rehabilitation Services. Update on the investigation of opportunistic infections among Haitian refugees in Miami. Two tables attached. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bill Darrow Collection Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 7, 1982 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/a554034cd1968612a92d891558707fb7.pdf ae0e30c09947085ae989eb4289b31619 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource HIV/AIDS Documents Government Records Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS IN PRISONERS Description An account of the resource MEMORANDUM TO: James Curran, M.D., M.P.H. FROM: Harold Jaffe, M.D. RE: Phone Conversation with John Hanrahan Regarding Opportunistic Infections in Prisoners Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 7, 1982 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The U. S. National Archives and Records Administration at Atlanta, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 www.archives.gov/atlanta https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/1bf2309533b2c6135f527791e09f47b2.jpg 7c8be849129fc28ee237852d83fb7f6f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Polio Photographs A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ORAL POLIO VACCINE Description An account of the resource A black and white photograph of two men standing in a warehouse with oral polio vaccine supplies of sugar cubes and portion cups, location unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/677ee6c0291a25d2bdbf9e65c020776c.jpg 7cbba2abc0f08875c46129aa1e64dfcb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Polio Photographs A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ORAL VACCINATION Description An account of the resource A black and white photograph of two workers standing beside a card loaded with the Wyeth laboratory live attenuated oral type I polio vaccine. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/4fbc1ada23e45732a202ea03008662c2.jpg 637403848cbf32796b5827679829e74a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Polio Photographs A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ORAL VACCINATION – Georgia Description An account of the resource A black and white photograph of a young boy receiving the oral polio vaccine during a vaccination campaign in the Carver Homes Community in Atlanta, Georgia. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ~1963 https://globalhealthchronicles.org/files/original/0d0c2f1761dc5c9bd71628ab7c365fdc.jpg c9b6d86143ba0cd2cbce9ad4a514d911 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Polio Photographs A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ORAL VACCINATION – Georgia Description An account of the resource A color photograph of children receiving the polio vaccine at an oral vaccine clinic in Atlanta. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1961