Berl Munch Tierarztl
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Berl Munch Tierarztl · Sep 1999
Historical Article[Historical review of smallpox, the eradication of smallpox and the attenuated smallpox MVA vaccine].
After the WHO had declared smallpox to be eradicated in 1980, smallpox vaccination ceased to be carried out in humans all over the world. The cutaneous inoculations carried out with live vaccines based on the vaccinia virus from 1798 onwards protected both the global population and, indirectly, the animals living with humans against orthopox infections in general. A large percentage of humans and animals no longer enjoy this protection. ⋯ The MVA strain was developed to reduce or prevent such adverse effects. MVA has meanwhile proved its worth both as a parenteral vaccine against orthopox infections in humans and animals and as a vector for insertion of foreign genes. The history of smallpox, the fight against this disease and the development of MVA are documented with the help of figures and tables.