The "white plague" on slave ships: smallpox epidemics in colonial Amazonia and the first efforts at immunization

This article describes smallpox epidemics in Belém, Pará during the 18th and 19th centuries, as reported in travelers logs and records from the Public Archives of the now State of Pará, including the first immunization efforts by missionaries and the colonial government in the region.

Smallpox; Amazonia; Belém; 18th and 19th centuries; slave trade; travelers