An increasing danger of zoonotic orthopoxvirus infections

On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly at its 33(rd) session solemnly declared that the world and all its peoples had won freedom from smallpox and recommended ceasing the vaccination of the population against smallpox. Currently, a larger part of the world population has no immunity not only aga...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS pathogens 2013-12, Vol.9 (12), p.e1003756-e1003756
Main Author: Shchelkunov, Sergei N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Disease Outbreaks
Disease Reservoirs - statistics & numerical data
DNA viruses
Ecology
Evolution, Molecular
Genomes
Health aspects
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Infection Control
Mass Vaccination
Microbiological research
Opinion
Orthopoxvirus - genetics
Orthopoxvirus - pathogenicity
Population
Poxviridae Infections - epidemiology
Poxviridae Infections - prevention & control
Prevalence studies (Epidemiology)
Smallpox
Vaccines
Vaccinia virus - genetics
Vaccinia virus - pathogenicity
Variola virus - genetics
Variola virus - pathogenicity
Viruses
Zoonoses
Zoonoses - epidemiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly at its 33(rd) session solemnly declared that the world and all its peoples had won freedom from smallpox and recommended ceasing the vaccination of the population against smallpox. Currently, a larger part of the world population has no immunity not only against smallpox but also against other zoonotic orthopoxvirus infections. Recently, recorded outbreaks of orthopoxvirus diseases not only of domestic animals but also of humans have become more frequent. All this indicates a new situation in the ecology and evolution of zoonotic orthopoxviruses. Analysis of state-of-the-art data on the phylogenetic relationships, ecology, and host range of orthopoxviruses--etiological agents of smallpox (variola virus, VARV), monkeypox (MPXV), cowpox (CPXV), vaccinia (VACV), and camelpox (CMLV)--as well as the patterns of their evolution suggests that a VARV-like virus could emerge in the course of natural evolution of modern zoonotic orthopoxviruses. Thus, there is an insistent need for organization of the international control over the outbreaks of zoonotic orthopoxvirus infections in various countries to provide a rapid response and prevent them from developing into epidemics.
ISSN:1553-7374
1553-7366
1553-7374
DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003756