By Caitlin Hollander

A 47-year-old leather importer and his wife arrived in New York City on a business trip. Most likely exhausted from the long journey from Mexico, they checked into a midtown hotel where the businessman noticed that he had a headache. He took some medication and went to sleep, probably thinking it little more than a side effect of the stress of the trip. But he started to feel worse and after developing worrying symptoms, went to the hospital. They transferred him to another hospital, one more able to handle a potentially contagious condition. There, he was determined to be having an adverse reaction to the headache medication he had taken - nothing serious. The appropriate medication was administered; yet, his symptoms worsened. After 8 days in New York City, he was dead. The cause of death was ruled “erythema multiforme with laryngotracheobronchitis and bronchopneumonia” - essentially, the allergic reaction plus bronchitis and pneumonia.

Then, two patients who had also been in the hospital at the same time as the businessman became ill with the same symptoms:, a young man in his 20s and an infant. Both had already been discharged and returned home to their families. More tests were performed - after all, allergic reactions are not contagious - and it was discovered that they had something far worse than anyone had imagined.

Smallpox

The year was 1947. Eugene LaBar was the first smallpox fatality in New York City in 35 years. The two additional patients had gone home to crowded apartments; it would be discovered later that the young man, Ismael Acosta, had infected his wife, Carmen, who would be the second fatality in this outbreak. Carmen Acosta was 27 years old, eight months pregnant, and the last person to die of smallpox in New York City.

Ever