The history of smallpox

Geddes, A. M.

doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2005.11.009

Cited by 74 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the years that followed, and prior to the advent of modern in vitro culture methods, the various inocula used as vaccinating agents were distributed around the world while being repeatedly passaged in humans and amplified in animals. This generally involved virus culture on the skin of cows, rabbits, or sheep, but donkeys and chicken eggs were also sometimes used (6). During this era, it is now recognized that passage through different hosts would likely have attenuated these agents, and viruses causing less adverse side effects in humans were also likely to have been retained for use as future stocks (7), but how these interventions might have affected virus evolution is unknown.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of and Evolutionary Relationships between Extant Vaccinia Virus Strains

Qin

Favis

Famulski

et al. 2015

J Virol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although vaccinia virus (VACV) was once used as a vaccine to eradicate smallpox on a worldwide scale, the biological origins of VACV are uncertain, as are the historical relationships between the different strains once used as smallpox vaccines. Here, we sequenced additional VACV strains that either represent relatively pristine examples of old vaccines (e.g., Dryvax, Lister, and Tashkent) or have been subjected to additional laboratory passage (e.g., IHD-W and WR). These genome sequences were compared with those previously reported for other VACVs as well as other orthopoxviruses. These extant VACVs do not always cluster in simple phylogenetic trees that are aligned with the known historical relationships between these strains. Rather, the pattern of deletions suggests that all existing strains likely come from a complex stock of viruses that has been passaged, distributed, and randomly sampled over time, thus obscuring simple historical or geographic links. We examined surviving nonclonal vaccine stocks, like Dryvax, which continue to harbor larger and now rare variants, including one that we have designated "clone DPP25." DPP25 encodes genes not found in most VACV strains, including an ankyrin-F-box protein, a homolog of the variola virus (Bangladesh) B18R gene which we show can be deleted without affecting virulence in mice. We propose a simple common mechanism by which recombination of a larger and hypothetical DPP25-like ancestral strain, combined with selection for retention of critically important genes near the terminal inverted repeat boundaries (vaccinia virus growth factor gene and an interferon alpha/beta receptor homolog), could produce all known VACV variants. IMPORTANCE Smallpox was eradicated by using a combination of intensive disease surveillance and vaccination using vaccinia virus (VACV).Interestingly, little is known about the historical relationships between different strains of VACV and how these viruses may have evolved from a common ancestral strain. To understand these relationships, additional strains were sequenced and compared to existing strains of VACV as well as other orthopoxviruses by using whole-genome sequence alignments. Extant strains of VACV did not always cluster in simple phylogenetic trees based on known historical relationships between these strains. Based on these findings, it is possible that all existing strains of VACV are derived from a single complex stock of viruses that has been passaged, distributed, and sampled over time.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of and Evolutionary Relationships between Extant Vaccinia Virus Strains

Qin

Favis

Famulski

et al. 2015

J Virol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Der letzte natürliche Pockenfall wurde 1977 in Somalia beschrieben [1]. Ein Jahr später fanden zwei wahrscheinlich von einem Viruslabor ausgehende VARV Infektionen in Großbritannien statt [2,3]. Die WHO erklärte schließlich Ende 1979 die Pocken für ausgerottet [4].…”

Section: Wissensstand üBer Den Erregerunclassified

Orthopockenviren: Infektionen des Menschen. Stellungnahmen des Arbeitskreises Blut des Bundesministeriums für Gesundheit

2010

Bundesgesundheitsbl.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…In some studies, viraemia was detected by PCR up to 21 days following an immunisation [3]. Other authors did not succeed in detecting VACV DNA in the blood, or did so only in isolated cases, and even then, only in a short time interval after the vaccination [36,122,123].…”

Section: Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The last natural smallpox infection was described in Somalia in 1977 [1]. One year later, two VARV infections occurred in Great Britain which probably originated from a virus laboratory [2,3]. In late 1979, the WHO finally declared smallpox to be eradicated [4].…”

Section: Current Knowledge About the Pathogenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The last case of natural smallpox infection was reported from Somalia in 1977. In 1978, the infection of a woman photographer in Birmingham who was working at an institute performing smallpox research, which took a fatal course, was a cause of concern [2,3]. This patient also transmitted the disease to her mother.…”

Section: Infection and Infectious Disease Human Poxvirus (Smallpox VImentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Orthopox Viruses: Infections in Humans

Pauli¹,

Blümel²,

Bürger³

et al. 2010

Transfus Med Hemother

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The history of smallpox

Cited by 74 publications

References 2 publications

Evolution of and Evolutionary Relationships between Extant Vaccinia Virus Strains

Evolution of and Evolutionary Relationships between Extant Vaccinia Virus Strains

Orthopockenviren: Infektionen des Menschen. Stellungnahmen des Arbeitskreises Blut des Bundesministeriums für Gesundheit

Orthopox Viruses: Infections in Humans

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About