Symptoms of smallpox

Smallpox had a typical course. Symptoms usually began about 7 to 17 days after exposure, with no signs during the incubation period, when the person was not contagious.

Early symptoms (prodrome, 2 to 4 days)

• Sudden high fever
• Severe headache and backache
• Body aches and extreme tiredness
• Vomiting and, sometimes, abdominal pain
• Occasional confusion

Rash stage

• Small red spots first appeared in the mouth and throat, then on the face and quickly spread to the arms, legs, palms and soles.
• The spots turned into raised bumps, then fluid-filled blisters, then pus-filled pustules with a central dent.
• The rash was usually at the same stage across any one body area, which helps distinguish it from chickenpox, where spots appear in crops at different stages.
• Pustules crusted over by about the second week, and scabs fell off by the third or fourth week, often leaving pitted scars.

Severe signs

• Bleeding into the skin or from the mucous membranes in the hemorrhagic form