Air sampling of smallpox virus.

Airborne smallpox virus has been recovered in an isolation hospital using an adhesive surface sampling technique in the presence of very low aerosol concentrations. Previous work in this field is reviewed. Successful recovery of airborne virus depends on sampling large volumes of air with a suitable sampler and thorough investigation of the whole sample taken for the presence of viable virus. More information on the characteristics and behaviour of airborne smallpox virus is needed in particular with regard to the future design and siting of smallpox isolation units.