Digitization of Historical Data from Somalia's Last Smallpox Outbreaks 1976-1977

Over more than three thousand years, smallpox caused millions of deaths worldwide. With smallpox declared eradicated in 1980, potential use of the variola virus as a bioterrorist threat remains a concern. While modern disease outbreaks are modelled using current data, understanding how to control an eradicated disease such as smallpox relies on the analysis of historical data. Handwritten smallpox outbreak data from Somalia (1976-1977) were obtained from the World Health Organization by a Public Health England study team (now UK Health Security Agency). The data were manually transcribed into a Microsoft Excel worksheet and uploaded to the UK Data Service ReShare repository. The transcribed line list comprises of 3,255 incident cases and includes the following variables: national case serial number, age, sex, date of rash onset, date detected, village/locality, district, region, regional outbreak number, and national outbreak number. The aim of this study is to make these historical data globally accessible, enhancing our understanding of smallpox transmission in Somalia during the disease eradication period and drawing lessons for future outbreaks.