MAKE A MEME View Large Image Sopona.jpg en This is a statue of Shapona the West African God of Smallpox It is part of the CDC ™s Global Health Odyssey GHO collection of artifacts A uniquely carved wooden figure it is adorned with layers of meaningful objects such as ...
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Keywords: Sopona.jpg en This is a statue of Shapona the West African God of Smallpox It is part of the CDC ™s Global Health Odyssey GHO collection of artifacts A uniquely carved wooden figure it is adorned with layers of meaningful objects such as monkey skulls cowrie shells and nails Donated in 1995 by Ilze and Rafe Henderson it was created by a traditional healer who made approximately 50 Shaponas as commemorative objects for the CDC WHO and other public health experts attending a 1969 conference on smallpox eradication <br/> Smallpox was thought to be a disease foisted upon humans due to Shapona ™s divine displeasure and formal worship of the God of Smallpox was highly controlled by specific priests in charge of shrines to the God People believed that if angered the priests themselves were capable of causing smallpox outbreaks through their intimate relationship with Shapona Suspecting that the priests were deliberately spreading the viral disease the British colonial rulers banned the worship of Shapona in 1907; however worshiping the deity continued with the faithful paying homage to the God even after such activities were prohibited 8003 James Gathany photo CDC/ Global Health Odyssey 2005 This image is in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions As a matter of courtesy we request that the content provider be credited and notified in any public or private usage of this image Smallpox Traditional religions in Africa Traditional medicine in Africa PD-USGov
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