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Genus Orthopoxvirus: Variola virus

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Book cover Poxviruses

Part of the book series: Birkhäuser Advances in Infectious Diseases ((BAID))

Abstract

Variola major virus caused the human disease smallpox; interpretations of the historic record indicate that the initial introduction of disease in a naïve population had profound effects on its demographics. Smallpox was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1980. This chapter reviews epidemiological, clinical and pathophysiological observations of disease, and review some of the more recent observations on the microbiology of Variola virus

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Poxvirus Program, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA

    Inger K. Damon

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  1. Inger K. Damon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Otago, 56, 700 Cumberland Street, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Andrew A. Mercer

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University Witten/Herdecke, Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50, 58448, Witten, Germany

    Axel Schmidt

  3. BAYER HEALTHCARE AG, Product-related Research, 42096, Wuppertal, Germany

    Olaf Weber

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Damon, I.K. (2007). Genus Orthopoxvirus: Variola virus . In: Mercer, A.A., Schmidt, A., Weber, O. (eds) Poxviruses. Birkhäuser Advances in Infectious Diseases. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7557-7_2

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