title: Smallpox and New York City's smallpox hospital.
abstract: Threatened use of the smallpox virus in bioterrorist attacks recently prompted national concerns in the United States. Smallpox, the "speckled monster," was known in antiquity. In 1856, New York City opened its first hospital devoted to caring for victims of smallpox. Essentially, the hospital isolated and quarantined patients on Blackwell's Island, located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. After the hospital closed about 1875, the facility became a training school for female and male nurses. In the mid 1950s, the building was abandoned. Today, the ruins of the smallpox hospital are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At night, the ruins are illuminated casting an eerie, green aura on the remaining stone walls.
authors.affiliation: State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, College of Medicine, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Box 43, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA. Allen.Spiegel@downstate.edu
authors.forename: Allen D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Spiegel
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kavaler
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kucinski
mesh_terms: D023482:Bioterrorism; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006782:Hospitals, Special / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D012899:Smallpox / Q000266:history*