When is a disease eradicable? 100 years of lessons learned

Since the 1915 launch of the first international eradication initiative tar geting a human pathogen, much has been learned about the determinants of er adicability of an organism. The authors outline the first 4 eradication eff orts, summarizing the lessons learned in terms of the 3 types of criteria f or disease eradication programs: (1) biological and technical feasibility, (2) costs and benefits, and (3) societal and political considerations.