Osler and the Infected Letter
The spread of infectious agents through the mail has concerned public health officials for 5 centuries. The dissemination of anthrax spores in the US mail in 2001 was a recent example. In 1901, two medical journals reported outbreaks of smallpox presumably introduced by letters contaminated with var...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2005
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3320382/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15890120 http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1105.040616 |
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author | Ambrose, Charles T. |
author_facet | Ambrose, Charles T. |
author_sort | Ambrose, Charles T. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The spread of infectious agents through the mail has concerned public health officials for 5 centuries. The dissemination of anthrax spores in the US mail in 2001 was a recent example. In 1901, two medical journals reported outbreaks of smallpox presumably introduced by letters contaminated with variola viruses. The stability and infectivity of the smallpox virus are reviewed from both a historical (anecdotal) perspective and modern virologic studies. Bubonic plague was the contagious disease that led to quarantines as early as the 14th century in port cities in southern Europe. Later, smallpox, cholera, typhus, and yellow fever were recognized as also warranting quarantine measures. Initially, attempts were made to decontaminate all goods imported from pestilential areas, particularly mail. Disinfection of mail was largely abandoned in the early 20th century with newer knowledge about the spread and stability of these 5 infectious agents. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3320382 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2005 |
publisher | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-33203822012-04-20 Osler and the Infected Letter Ambrose, Charles T. Emerg Infect Dis Historical Review The spread of infectious agents through the mail has concerned public health officials for 5 centuries. The dissemination of anthrax spores in the US mail in 2001 was a recent example. In 1901, two medical journals reported outbreaks of smallpox presumably introduced by letters contaminated with variola viruses. The stability and infectivity of the smallpox virus are reviewed from both a historical (anecdotal) perspective and modern virologic studies. Bubonic plague was the contagious disease that led to quarantines as early as the 14th century in port cities in southern Europe. Later, smallpox, cholera, typhus, and yellow fever were recognized as also warranting quarantine measures. Initially, attempts were made to decontaminate all goods imported from pestilential areas, particularly mail. Disinfection of mail was largely abandoned in the early 20th century with newer knowledge about the spread and stability of these 5 infectious agents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2005-05 /pmc/articles/PMC3320382/ /pubmed/15890120 http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1105.040616 Text en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is a publication of the U.S. Government. This publication is in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from this work may be reprinted freely. Use of these materials should be properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Historical Review Ambrose, Charles T. Osler and the Infected Letter |
title | Osler and the Infected Letter |
title_full | Osler and the Infected Letter |
title_fullStr | Osler and the Infected Letter |
title_full_unstemmed | Osler and the Infected Letter |
title_short | Osler and the Infected Letter |
title_sort | osler and the infected letter |
topic | Historical Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3320382/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15890120 http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1105.040616 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT ambrosecharlest oslerandtheinfectedletter |