LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Smallpox: Diseases
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Smallpox virus preferentially attacks skin cells, causing the characteristic pimples (called macules) associated with the disease. A rash develops on the skin 24 to 48 hours after lesions on the mucous membranes appear. Typically the macules first appear on the forehead, then rapidly spread to the whole face, proximal portions of extremities, the trunk, and lastly to distal portions of extremities. The process takes no more than 24 to 36 hours, after which no new lesions appear.[4] At this point Variola major infection can take several very different courses.
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Smallpox virus preferentially attacks skin cells, and by days 12รข€“15, smallpox infection becomes obvious. The attack on skin cells causes the characteristic pimples associated with the disease. The pimples tend to erupt first in the mouth, then on the arms and the hands, and later on the rest of the body. At this point the pimples, called macules, are usually still fairly small. This is the stage at which the victim is most contagious.
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Smallpox is a disease caused by the Variola major virus. Some experts say that over the centuries it has killed more people than all other infectious diseases combined. Worldwide immunization stopped the spread of smallpox three decades ago. The last case was reported in 1977. Two research labs still house small amounts of the virus. Experts fear bioterrorists could use the virus to spread disease.
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Smallpox is a viral disease unique to humans. To sustain itself, the virus must pass from person to person in a continuing chain of infection and is spread by inhalation of air droplets or aerosols. Twelve to 14 days after infection, the patient typically becomes febrile and has severe aching pains and prostration. Some 2 to 3 days later, a papular rash develops over the face and spreads to the extremities (Figure 1). The rash soon becomes vesicular and later, pustular (Figure 2). The patient remains febrile throughout the evolution of the rash and customarily experiences considerable pain as the pustules grow and expand.
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Smallpox long reigned as the king of dreaded contagious diseases. It killed more people than any other virus in recorded history -- about 500 million people in the 20th century alone. For about 20 years, smallpox seemed to have vanished, no longer haunting the dreams of most people. Many had never even heard of it. Unfortunately, terrorist’s suicidal viciousness and new biological attacks have brought the threat of smallpox back to the future.
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Smallpox was a relatively contagious disease. The virus could be transferred from one person to another in a number of ways. A person could catch the virus by touching the lesions of an infected person. The virus could ... be transferred in droplets of moisture produced during coughing or sneezing. And a person could get the virus from books, blankets, utensils, or other objects used by someone with the disease.
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