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Medical journal editors relish reports of new diseases, but who is looking out for diseases that have vanished? The government protects species on the verge of extinction; even disappearing languages have their advocates. The saga of alastrim shows that an extinct disease may still have important implications.
With the eradication of smallpox (Variola major) in 1977, and an official WHO proclamation to that effect in 1980, it is not surprising that, except for interests related to bioterrorism, studies of the Variola virus waned. Articles about the mild form of smallpox — alastrim (Portuguese for “to scatter over”) aka Variola minor — have almost vanished from the literature. Molecular biology to the rescue…