आगमे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

In traditional Hindu belief, smallpox
was personified as the goddess Shitala
(“Cool One,” a euphemism), and the
fever and skin eruptions accompanying
the disease were interpreted as signs of
possession by this goddess. In the time
since the World Health Organization has
declared smallpox officially eradicated,
in some regions Shitala has been identified with tuberculosis. See Shitala.