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Shapona, the West African God of Smallpox. The statue 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 a monkey skull, cowrie shells, and nails.Within the traditional religion of the Yoruba people of Nigeria it is believed that smallpox was a disease foisted upon humans due to Shapona's divine displeasure, and formal worship of the God of Smallpox was highly controlled by priests in charge of shrines to the God. People of this religion believed that if the priests were angered they were capable of causing smallpox outbreaks through their intimate relationship with the god whose name is secret and taboo, and not to be spoken aloud in respect for the power of the Lord of Infectious Disease. Suspecting that the priests were deliberately spreading the viral disease, the British colonial rulers banned the worship of Shapona in 1907, but worshiping the deity continued with the faithful paying homage to the God even after such activities were prohibited.
