What Is the Variola Virus?

Smallpox (Smallpox) is a severe infectious disease caused by the smallpox virus and an infectious disease that has been eliminated by humans worldwide. The average incubation period after infection with variola virus is approximately 12 days (7-17 days). Early symptoms after infection include high fever, tiredness, headache, rapid heartbeat, and back pain. After 2-3 days, typical smallpox rashes are apparently distributed on the face, arms and legs. In the early stage of the rash, there will be light red lumps appearing along with the rash. The lesions became purulent after a few days, and scabies began to develop in the second week. The following 3-4 weeks slowly develop into mange, and then slowly peel off. Smallpox is caused by the infection with pox virus. After the patient heals, hemp will be left on his face.

Smallpox virus

Smallpox may only be a relatively harmless pox virus in domestic animals at the beginning. After gradually evolving and adapting, smallpox has formed the human disease. In the future, people gradually discovered accidental conditions similar to cowpox infection in humans. The deadly adaptation process of smallpox may occur after humans entered the agricultural age, and people began to domesticate new animals and live with them, often in the same room. Smallpox may also originate from human-to-wildlife contact, just as a few people in Central Africa today are infected with monkeypox.

The common virus is the largepox virus, which is a type of smallpox and a type of pox virus. In addition to smallpox, smallpox is divided into smallpox and smallpox. Big smallpox, middle smallpox and small smallpox have exactly the same symptoms and the same way they are transmitted. The difference is that about 25% of patients infected with largepox will die, the fatality rate of smallpox will be about 12%, and only 1% of those infected with smallpox will be life-threatening. ^[1]

The average incubation period after infection with variola virus is approximately 12 days (7-17 days). Early symptoms after infection include high fever, tiredness, headache, and back pain. After 2-3 days, typical smallpox rashes are apparently distributed on the face, arms and legs. In the early stage of the rash, there will be light red lumps appearing along with the rash. The lesions became purulent after a few days, and scabies began to develop in the second week. The following 3-4 weeks slowly develop into mange, and then slowly peel off. ^[2]

Smallpox is caused by the virus of the same name, Variola virus. The reason for causing so much damage in history is closely related to the characteristics of smallpox. Variola virus multiplies quickly and spreads through the air at an alarming rate. People with the virus are most contagious within 1 week after infection because their saliva contains the largest amount of variola virus. But until the patient's scar is peeled off, smallpox may still be transmitted to others through the patient.

There are different varieties of variola virus that cause different degrees of infection to humans. Most smallpox patients will recover, and death usually occurs within 1 or 2 weeks after onset, with a mortality rate of about 30%.

What historians even called "the largest genocide in human history" was not achieved by gunfire, but by smallpox. In human history ^[3]

The use of vaccination to prevent smallpox has a long history. Famous doctors in Chinese history

In July 2014, a US scientist recently sorted out a storage area at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland when a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist found 6 bottles of forgotten in a refrigerator For smallpox virus, the medicine bottles are marked with smallpox and placed in a cardboard box with 10 other unlabeled medicine bottles. These 6 bottles of freeze-dried virus appear to be in the 1950s.

The cold room was originally part of an NIH laboratory. In the 1970s, the laboratory was moved to the FDA headquarters, and the cold room was also transferred to the FDA.

In July 2014, the NIH immediately placed the virus in a high-security laboratory and notified the CDC of the discovery. The CDC research team used government aircraft to transport samples to Atlanta and send them to a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory.Researchers will analyze these viruses overnight. More research will reveal whether these viruses can grow in petri dishes.

If they contain a viable virus, these vials will be destroyed by then and the World Health Organization (WHO) will be invited to oversee the destruction. A department of the CDC is currently working with the FBI to investigate the source of these virus samples.

Although smallpox was eliminated in 1980, smallpox virus is still conserved. At present, variola virus specimens are kept in two places, one is at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the other is the National Center for Virus and Biotechnology Research in Novosibirsk, Russia. Recently, it has been difficult for scientists to decide whether the remaining variola virus specimens should be eliminated. Opposing scientists say key questions about variola virus have not been answered and specimens should not be eliminated.

Security officials said the virus was not leaked and did not pose a health threat to employees who discovered it. The specimens were later sent to Atlanta, Georgia, for testing, and researchers confirmed that the samples contained variola virus DNA. They are now trying to confirm if the variola virus in the specimen is still biologically active.

Devil smallpox forgotten in the bottle

On July 1, 2014, scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) accidentally discovered six bottles of variola virus that had been forgotten for decades while moving the laboratory.

According to international agreements, variola virus samples worldwide can only be stored in two laboratories: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, USA, and the National Center for Virology and Biotechnology Research (VECTOR) in Novosibirsk, Russia. World Health Organization (WHO) supervision.

There are warning signs outside the laboratory where smallpox is stored. Figure / WHO

The CDC's statement stated that there was no evidence that anyone had taken and used these viruses. Because these viruses have been lyophilized and variola virus dies after lyophilization, NIH's biosafety staff considers these vials to be non-infectious.

Electron micrograph of smallpox virus in 1975. Figure / CDC

In an interview on Tuesday, CDC officials said he believed the vials were kept at room temperature. But later the same day, FDA officials said that the virus samples were kept in frozen storage for decades.

The CDC believes that these small bottles came from the 1950s. At that time, many laboratories held smallpox virus. But they're still investigating who kept the samples, and

Why they appeared in this abandoned laboratory in Maryland.

ABC News claims that these small bottles are labeled "variola", which is the scientific name of smallpox. Also found were some small bottles without labels. When they were discovered on July 1, they were immediately protected and the CDC was notified. The CDC sent three experts to collect the virus in the bottle.

The CDC's statement said that on July 7, the bottles had been safely transferred to CDC's highly sealed facility in Atlanta for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests overnight. Tests confirmed that variola virus DNA was indeed present in the six labeled bottles, but not in the other bottles. Next, they will spend 2 weeks testing whether they can survive (that is, they can grow in tissue culture). After that, it was destroyed under the full supervision of WHO.

In 1979, smallpox was largely eliminated by humans due to widespread vaccination. To this end, the United Nations World Health Organization also held a celebration ceremony. In the same year, laboratories around the world agreed to destroy smallpox samples or send them to either of the two laboratories mentioned above (CDC in the US or VECTOR in Russia). According to official statements at the time, by the early 1980s, all smallpox viruses other than CDC and VECTOR had been eliminated.

The members of the Global Smallpox Eradication Certification Board signed the certificate in Geneva on December 9, 1979.

Newborns are no longer vaccinated against cowpox. Only smallpox scientists, specific medical staff, and other people who may be exposed to the virus are vaccinated because vaccination can cause serious (though rare) side effects. Governments can have vaccines, and since they do not contain variola virus, they do not violate international agreements.