LYCOS RETRIEVER
Smallpox: Spreads
built 628 days ago
Smallpox is a highly contagious disease. The virus can spread by direct contact with those who are infected, in contaminated air droplets, and even by touching objects such as books and blankets that have been previously used by someone who has smallpox.
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Smallpox fits this description well. It is spread through face-to-face contact, by means of infected saliva or respiratory droplets, usually in a closed setting. It can ... be spread by infected linens or clothes: It was probably first used as a biological weapon during the French and Indian Wars by British soldiers who deliberately gave blankets that had been used by smallpox patients to American Indians.
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Smallpox is contracted by inhalation of variola virus particles. Lesions in the throat and mouth release large amounts of virus into the saliva, which are spread into the air by coughing. Smallpox is spread via saliva during face-to-face contact or by inhalation of virus particles from pus and scabs encountered on bed sheets and other places.
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Smallpox was recognized and feared for many centuries in all parts of the world. One of the features that contributed to its eradication was that variola virus only infected humans. Smallpox was spread through respiratory transmission of virus found in the oropharyngeal secretions of infected individuals.
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