FOI ref: FOI-2024-2122
You asked
This Freedom of Information request pertains to the existence of the 'variola virus' in-situ, in a cow, or cattle. In particular I am looking for:
Proof, in this country, or anywhere else in the world, of the existence of the 'variola virus' or 'cowpox' in cows and cattle.
To be specific I would like:
- The proofs of a purified isolation of the 'variola virus' in cows or cattle and
- The same genomic sequence being found in a human at any time in history, including those suffering from 'smallpox', or suffering from symptoms generated by the transfer of this 'cowpox' or 'variola' to the human host.
These proofs of an isolated, purified 'variola virus' can be from Great Britain or any country in the world, from any time in history.
Please note I am looking for a purified example of the 'variola virus' from a cow or cattle in a cow and a human. I do not want examples of:
- a culture of an un-purified sample or other un-purified substances,
- a substance generated from an amplification test (i.e. a PCR or polymerase chain reaction test) on the total RNA from a patient sample or from a cell culture;
- genetic material from any un-purified substance,
- a fabricated genome based on PCR-detected sequences in the total RNA from a patient sample,
- an example or diagram, produced from electron microscopy images of un-purified elements in a cell culture
The above 5 points are unnatural and manufactured examples which prove nothing.
I would assume that proof of an isolated purified 'variola virus' genomic string is ready at hand to issue.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration.
We do not hold any information on purified isolation or genomics.
Your request may be better directed to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) or The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).