In September 1975 Bangladesh was the only country in the world with endemic variola major, and the eradication of the disease was imminent. A rapid and accurate laboratory diagnostic method was required to supplement immunodiffusion in agar gel and culture on chorioallantoic membrane of embryonated egg available at the Institute of Public Health in Dacca, Bangladesh. To determine its effectiven...

We developed a highly sensitive and specific assay for the rapid detection of smallpox virus DNA on both the Smart Cycler and LightCycler platforms. The assay is based on TaqMan chemistry with the orthopoxvirus hemagglutinin gene used as the target sequence. With genomic DNA purified from variola virus Bangladesh 1975, the limit of detection was estimated to be approximately 25 copies on both m...

practice to increase the potency of the original vaccine by occasionally adding variola virus. This derivation could also result from vacccination in smallpox hospitals. Razzell's statement (p. 228)'. . . it has been impossible to infect cows with smallpox virus i.e. produce cowpox' (my italics)-his incorrect interpretation of Downie (p. 225), is hardly scientific. An objective experimenter wou...

INTRODUCTION LC16m8 is an attenuated cell culture-adapted Lister vaccinia smallpox vaccine missing the B5R protein and licensed for use in Japan. METHODS We conducted a phase I/II clinical trial that compared the safety and immunogenicity of LC16m8 with Dryvax in vaccinia-naive participants. Adverse events were assessed, as were electrocardiography and laboratory testing for cardiotoxicity an...

Smallpox is a viral infection caused by the variola virus. It was declared eradicated worldwide by the Word Health Organization in 1980 following a smallpox eradication campaign. Smallpox is seen as one of the viruses most likely to be used as a biological weapon. The variola virus exists legitimately in only two laboratories in the world. Any new case of smallpox would have to be the result of...

or the past 2 years, a team of investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has collaborated with scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Defense (DOD), academic centers, and international partners to undertake a research agenda on variola virus, the etiologic agent of smallpox. Objectives of the pro...