Vaccines are one of the most important topics for skeptics in recent years.
This week is the birthday of Jonas Salk, who invented one of the polio vaccines. He was born October 28, 1914. He was hailed as a hero half a century ago because polio was a huge public health issue at the time.
The eradication of polio has been close at hand for many years, but it has been stymied in part by vaccine denialists in the few countries where the disease is still found. In the United States the celebrity most associated with vaccine denial is Jenny McCarthy, who was born November 1, 1972.
But I prefer to remember a different person when I think about vaccine denial. That person is Ali Maow Maalin, a cook in a town in Somalia. What, you’ve never heard of him?
On October 26, 1977, he was the very last person ever to be diagnosed with smallpox. The disease has since been eradicated from Earth by way of vaccines. For vaccine deniers like Jenny McCarthy to stand in the way of this tremendous achievement is truly a crime.You can get a daily dose of the history of skepticism with JREF’s free Today in Skeptic History app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad or by subscribing on Twitter or Facebook.
(This essay originally appeared in a slightly different form on Skepticality episode #141)
Tim Farley is a JREF Research Fellow in electronic media.