Smallpox, one of the biggest killers in history, is caused by a virus called variola. Variola causes a distinctive rash and is often lethal. The name variola comes from the Latin word for “spotted” ...

the vaccinia virus (VACV), was used in the past as a live vaccine to eradicate smallpox. Despite intensive research, important questions regarding the biogenesis and structure of the mature virus ...

they tested the sample for virus DNA—and instead found the variola virus, which causes smallpox. Known for its signature blisters and gruesome deaths, smallpox killed 300 million people in the ...

All research involving the virus samples requires approval from a special World Health Organization committee of experts. The World Health Assembly, the governing body of WHO, originally scheduled ...

Smallpox, or variola, virus has killed more human beings than any other infectious agent. Fortunately, smallpox virus has only one host-humans -- which made it possible to eradicate it. In 1967, the ...

The highly contagious, and often-deadly, variola virus responsible for smallpox infection is described by the World Health Organization as “one of the world’s most devastating disease known to ...

The earliest evidence of the virus is in Egyptian mummies dating back to the 3rd century BCE. The first-known written description of the disease appeared in China in the 4th century CE and smallpox ...