For many in the field of public health, the eradication of smallpox was one of the greatest triumphs of 20th-century medicine. This astounding achievement has influenced national and international organisations to mount or consider efforts to eradicate many other infectious diseases, including measles, Guinea worm disease, Chagas' disease, polio, and malaria. Eradication may well be public health's greatest rhetorical weapon in the battle against dread diseases. Indeed, the ability to command funding, popular support, the attention of politicians, and positive media coverage by talk of disease eradication is unparalleled. ... It may seem churlish to wonder in the face of a public health triumph that saved untold numbers from death and disability if disease eradication is ethical. Nevertheless, there are sound reasons for wondering whether the pursuit of eradication—as opposed to aggressive and effective disease management—is the right thing to do for other infectious diseases.