Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, 80937 Munich, Germany.
Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK.
Viruses. 2020 Jan 24;12(2):138. doi: 10.3390/v12020138.
Widespread vaccination programmes led to the global eradication of smallpox, which was certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and, since 1978, there has been no case of smallpox anywhere in the world. However, the viable variola virus (VARV), the causative agent of smallpox, is still kept in two maximum security laboratories in Russia and the USA. Despite the eradication of the disease smallpox, clandestine stocks of VARV may exist. In a rapidly changing world, the impact of an intentional VARV release in the human population would nowadays result in a public health emergency of global concern: vaccination programmes were abolished, the percentage of immunosuppressed individuals in the human population is higher, and an increased intercontinental air travel allows for the rapid viral spread of diseases around the world. The WHO has authorised the temporary retention of VARV to enable essential research for public health benefit to take place. This work aims to develop diagnostic tests, antiviral drugs, and safer vaccines. Advances in synthetic biology have made it possible to produce infectious poxvirus particles from chemicals in vitro so that it is now possible to reconstruct VARV. The status of smallpox in the post-eradication era is reviewed.
广泛的疫苗接种计划导致了世界卫生组织（WHO）认证的天花的全球根除，自 1978 年以来，世界上任何地方都没有出现过天花病例。然而，仍有两种活的天花病毒（VARV），即天花的病原体，保存在俄罗斯和美国的两个最高安全实验室中。尽管已经消灭了天花，但可能仍然存在 VARV 的秘密库存。在这个快速变化的世界中，如今在人类中故意释放 VARV 可能会导致全球关注的公共卫生紧急情况：疫苗接种计划被取消，人类中免疫抑制个体的比例更高，洲际航空旅行的增加使得疾病在全球范围内迅速传播。世界卫生组织已授权暂时保留 VARV，以进行对公共卫生有益的必要研究。这项工作旨在开发诊断测试、抗病毒药物和更安全的疫苗。合成生物学的进步使得从化学物质在体外产生感染性痘病毒颗粒成为可能，因此现在可以重建 VARV。审查了天花在根除后的时代的状况。
