Ali Maow Maalin

Who was Ali Maow Maalin?

Ali Maow Maalin was a Somalian hospital cook and health worker from Merca who is the last person known to be infected with naturally occurring Variola minor smallpox in the world. He was diagnosed with the disease in October 1977 and made a full recovery. Although he had many contacts, none of them developed the disease and an aggressive containment campaign was successful in preventing an outbreak. Smallpox was declared to have been eradicated globally by the World Health Organization two years later. Maalin was subsequently involved in the successful poliomyelitis eradication campaign in Somalia, and he died of malaria while carrying out polio vaccinations after the reintroduction of the virus in 2013.