Smallpox in the Post-Eradication Era.

Publisher: MDPI Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101509722 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1999-4915 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19994915 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Viruses Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Basel, Switzerland : MDPI

Disease Eradication* ; Smallpox Vaccine*/adverse effects ; Smallpox Vaccine*/immunology ; Smallpox Vaccine*/supply & distribution; Smallpox/*prevention & control; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use ; Biohazard Release ; Evolution, Molecular ; Genome, Viral ; Humans ; Immunization Programs ; Risk ; Smallpox/diagnosis ; Smallpox/drug therapy ; Smallpox/virology ; Synthetic Biology ; Variola virus/genetics ; World Health Organization

Widespread vaccination programmes led to the global eradication of smallpox, which was certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and, since 1978, there has been no case of smallpox anywhere in the world. However, the viable variola virus (VARV), the causative agent of smallpox, is still kept in two maximum security laboratories in Russia and the USA. Despite the eradication of the disease smallpox, clandestine stocks of VARV may exist. In a rapidly changing world, the impact of an intentional VARV release in the human population would nowadays result in a public health emergency of global concern: vaccination programmes were abolished, the percentage of immunosuppressed individuals in the human population is higher, and an increased intercontinental air travel allows for the rapid viral spread of diseases around the world. The WHO has authorised the temporary retention of VARV to enable essential research for public health benefit to take place. This work aims to develop diagnostic tests, antiviral drugs, and safer vaccines. Advances in synthetic biology have made it possible to produce infectious poxvirus particles from chemicals in vitro so that it is now possible to reconstruct VARV. The status of smallpox in the post-eradication era is reviewed.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest

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United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust

Keywords: antiviral; eradication; smallpox; vaccination; variola virus

0 (Antiviral Agents)
0 (Smallpox Vaccine)

Date Created: 20200130 Date Completed: 20200319 Latest Revision: 20240328

20240329

PMC7077202

10.3390/v12020138

31991671