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Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. [7] [11] The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980, [10] making smallpox the only human disease to have been eradicated to date.
Smallpox is the first disease, and so far the only infectious disease of humans, to be eradicated by deliberate intervention. [6] It became the first disease for which there was an effective vaccine in 1798 when Edward Jenner showed the protective effect of inoculation ( vaccination ) of humans with material from cowpox lesions.
Smallpox eradicated after years of work to stop spread. In 1967, the World Health Organization began an “intensified effort” to eradicate smallpox, a contagious disease caused by the variola ...
No treatment is available, and the only protection is vaccination. The virus is usually transmitted by prolonged face-to-face contact with a person showing symptoms. The incubation period averages 12–14 days. [18] One of the most feared diseases of human history, smallpox was still causing an estimated 2 million deaths every year as late as 1967.
The smallpox vaccine is used to prevent smallpox infection caused by the variola virus. [10] It is the first vaccine to have been developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus.
Tecovirimat has been effective in laboratory testing; it has been shown to protect animals from mpox and rabbitpox and causes no serious side effects in humans. [6] Tecovirimat was first used for treatment in December 2018, after a laboratory-acquired vaccinia virus infection. [10]
Brincidofovir, sold under the brand name Tembexa, is an antiviral drug used to treat smallpox.Brincidofovir is a prodrug of cidofovir. [4] Conjugated to a lipid, the compound is designed to release cidofovir intracellularly, allowing for higher intracellular and lower plasma concentrations of cidofovir, effectively increasing its activity against dsDNA viruses, as well as oral bioavailability.
In November 2021 the CDC announced that several frozen vials labeled "Smallpox" were discovered in a freezer in a Merck & Co. vaccine research facility at Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. [18] [19] [20] The vials were determined to contain the vaccinia virus, used in making the vaccine, not the variola virus, which causes smallpox. [21]