Not so with smallpox. To create this vaccine, you begin with another virus that is similar to the smallpox virus, yet different enough not to bring on the smallpox disease once it enters your body.

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” ...

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 ...

It also states that preparing for the return of smallpox is key to preventing the spread of other diseases caused by viruses within the same family, like the mpox virus, which became a global ...

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 ...

(Unlike COVID-19 vaccines, if you take a smallpox vaccine in the week after you're exposed to the virus, it can still offer some protection.) But the US's national stockpile includes many doses of ...

Symptoms of monkeypox can also be compared with smallpox — a related virus that was declared eradicated in 1980. Like smallpox, monkeypox causes pus-filled boils. But monkeypox is generally ...

Here’s a look back at some of them. Smallpox is caused by the variola virus, which spreads through skin-to-skin contact or contact with bodily fluids. It can also be spread through the air.

By William J. Broad In 1999, William J. Broad and two colleagues wrote a comprehensive article on the past, present and future of the smallpox virus. Feb. 12, 2025 President Trump’s order that ...