Alastrim
Encyclopedia
Alastrim, also known as variola minor, is the milder strain of the variola virus that causes smallpox
.
Variola minor is of the genus orthopoxvirus
, which are DNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm
of the affected cell, rather than in its nucleus
. Like variola major, alastrim is spread through inhalation of the virus in the air, which can occur through face-to-face contact or though fomites. Contagion with variola minor confers immunity against its more dangerous form, variola major.
Variola minor is a less common form of the virus, and much less deadly. Although alastrim has the same incubation period
and pathogenetic stages as smallpox, alastrim is believed to have a mortality rate of less than 1%, as compared to smallpox's 30%.
Because alastrim is a less debilitating disease than smallpox, patients are more frequently ambulant and thus able to infect others more rapidly. As such, variola minor swept through the USA, Great Britain, and South Africa in the early 20th century, becoming the dominant form of the disease in those areas and thus rapidly decreasing mortality rates.
Other names for alastrim include: white pox, kaffir pox, Cuban itch, West Indian pox, milk pox, and pseudovariola.
Like smallpox, Alastrim has now been totally eradicated from the globe thanks to the 1960s Global Smallpox Eradication campaign. The last case of indigenous variola minor was reported in a Somalian cook, Ali Maow Maalin
, in October 1977, and smallpox was officially declared eradicated worldwide in May 1980.
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
.
Variola minor is of the genus orthopoxvirus
Orthopoxvirus
Orthopoxvirus is a genus of poxviruses that includes many species isolated from mammals, such as Camelpox virus, Cowpox virus, Ectromelia virus, Monkeypox virus, and Volepox virus, which causes mousepox. The most famous member of the genus is Variola virus, which causes smallpox...
, which are DNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm
Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm is a small gel-like substance residing between the cell membrane holding all the cell's internal sub-structures , except for the nucleus. All the contents of the cells of prokaryote organisms are contained within the cytoplasm...
of the affected cell, rather than in its nucleus
Cell nucleus
In cell biology, the nucleus is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these...
. Like variola major, alastrim is spread through inhalation of the virus in the air, which can occur through face-to-face contact or though fomites. Contagion with variola minor confers immunity against its more dangerous form, variola major.
Variola minor is a less common form of the virus, and much less deadly. Although alastrim has the same incubation period
Incubation period
Incubation period is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical or radiation, and when symptoms and signs are first apparent...
and pathogenetic stages as smallpox, alastrim is believed to have a mortality rate of less than 1%, as compared to smallpox's 30%.
Because alastrim is a less debilitating disease than smallpox, patients are more frequently ambulant and thus able to infect others more rapidly. As such, variola minor swept through the USA, Great Britain, and South Africa in the early 20th century, becoming the dominant form of the disease in those areas and thus rapidly decreasing mortality rates.
Other names for alastrim include: white pox, kaffir pox, Cuban itch, West Indian pox, milk pox, and pseudovariola.
Like smallpox, Alastrim has now been totally eradicated from the globe thanks to the 1960s Global Smallpox Eradication campaign. The last case of indigenous variola minor was reported in a Somalian cook, Ali Maow Maalin
Ali Maow Maalin
Ali Maow Maalin is the last person on earth known to be infected with naturally occurring Variola minor smallpox. At age 23, Maalin was a cook at the hospital in the town of Merca, Somalia, as well as an occasional vaccinator for a World Health Organization smallpox eradication team...
, in October 1977, and smallpox was officially declared eradicated worldwide in May 1980.