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Smallpox

The virus Variola major is a poxviridae virus causing pox or pus-filled lesions of the infectious disease smallpox, a lethal and disfiguring disease prevalent throughout history. Smallpox is characterized by an initial high fever and pus-filled blisters leaving deep pitting scars on most of the body. Although not immediately contagious, Variola virus passes from person to person through droplet transmission or by direct contact, skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, and by having the airborne droplets combine with dust and become attached to bedding or clothing after the incubation period. Smallpox has an incubation period of seven to 17 days with an average of 12 days between exposure and illness.

The virus embeds in cells close to the surface of the skin and then sheds the protective shell and begins to multiply. The genetic material from the virus begins replication and inserts the genetic information into the host cell. Proteins and enzymes help the virus mature and develop.

Smallpox, considered eradicated by the World Health Organization in the late 1970s and therefore unnecessary as standard vaccination any longer, means the disease is unlikely to be contracted from a natural source. However, after the attacks with anthrax, the possibility of using this as a weapon is highly likely. Normally, a person is exposed to the virus Variola major about 12 days before the first symptoms of severe fever, headache, and malaise appear. At this point, even before the development of a rash and pustules, the person is infectious and can pass the virus on to others through droplet transmission just by being in the same room with an infected person. It is highly contagious and hardy enough to remain stable and infectious in a variety of environments. The best treatment results rely on early detection, isolation of infected persons, and focused selective vaccination.

Origin and History of Smallpox Virus

One of the oldest recorded diseases, smallpox epidemics and the symptoms have been described in written and oral history. Records indicate an epidemic in Africa between 1200–1100 b.c.e. and one the earliest epidemics occurred in China about 1120 b.c.e. with various smaller epidemics occurring later and records purport the spread of smallpox from Indo-China into other parts of China, with Japan and Korea experiencing epidemics later.

Smallpox spread rapidly throughout the populated world including Egypt, Arabia, and Greece, and in the 2nd century c.e., it had spread into central Europe. Various skin conditions and epidemics of illness similar to smallpox have been recorded throughout history and in various parts of the world. Roman physicians described an epidemic similar to smallpox in the 2nd century. The spread of the disease into the Near East is a topic of controversy as far as timing, although a perhaps later account is recorded in the 10th century.

From the 2nd century onward, smallpox spread throughout Europe. As travel and trade increased and ships traveled greater distances across the oceans, the islands in the Atlantic including Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands were infected. After the arrival of the Europeans, North, Central, and South American indigenous people succumbed to smallpox, with many epidemics among the North American Indians. Whole tribes were destroyed, even those individuals who had been considered strong and healthy. Europeans may have found the New World easier to conquer as more of the indigenous people died from infection. In the later expansion of the Europeans westward in North America, some historians contend smallpox may have been spread intentionally with contaminated blankets.

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