Eradicating smallpox may have left the world vulnerable to monkeypox, experts have warned amid growing fears about the current outbreak sweeping the world.
Britons were routinely offered smallpox jabs until the 1970s, when the scheme was deemed no longer necessary because the virus had been beaten into submission. Similar programmes were wound down across the world at the same time.
Scientists say the waning immunity from the mammoth inoculation campaigns may help explain why monkeypox outbreaks are becoming more common
