Instruments and agents of control: smallpox in the Río de la Plata at the beginning of the nineteenth century

Different systems for controlling smallpox in the early nineteenth century are investigated, considering the actions of different agents, mechanisms, and strategies involved in its organization, manufacture, and distribution. This dangerous disease emerged in the Americas following European colonization. Immunization practices arrived in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1805, coordinated first by the Protomedicato and later through the Conservatory of Vaccines. The economic hardship and wars of the fledging state hindered the inoculation of human and cowpox viruses. Humans were used as viral reservoirs, yet the epidemics remained uncontrolled. Replication of European experiments to obtain similar viruses failed to provide a safe product.