Smallpox – a biological weapon?
Smallpox may no longer occur naturally but this once deadly disease makes a perfect agent of bio-terrorism.
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Photo courtesy of CDC/Cheryl Tryon
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What is smallpox?
Smallpox is a viral disease unique to humans. Symptoms resemble the flu, followed by a flat red rash that form into pustules all over the body.
Like the flu, it spreads from person to person via airborne droplets containing virus particles that land on the mucosal membranes of the nose, mouth and throat, or through physical contact with patients or sheets and blankets.
There are three forms of smallpox: variola major, variola minor and hemorrhagic smallpox, or black pox. These vary in severity and fatality with black pox being 100% fatal.
Black pox is the hemorragic version.