Follow-up on diagnostic proficiency of laboratories equipped to perform orthopoxvirus detection and quantification by PCR: the second international external quality assurance study

摘要

Variola major virus (VAR) is the most relevant virus in the context of possible biological crime and terrorism. Although it has been eradicated from nature by vaccine-tion, the virus is still stored in two selected World Health Organization repositories. A deliberate release would have catastrophic consequences in today's unvac-cinated population worldwide. Other orthopoxviruses, such as monkeypox (MPX), cowpox (CPX), and vaccinia virus (VAC), can imitate aspects of the clinical outcome of VAR. Molecular virus detection tools for orthopoxviruses in general, and for VAR in particular, are essential for both biosecurity and public health bodies. Their performance, however, is very heterogeneous in different laboratories.