Is smallpox contagious? How is smallpox spread?
Yes, smallpox is contagious. Smallpox normally spreads from contact with infected persons. Generally, direct and fairly prolonged face-to-face contact is required to spread smallpox from one person to another. People infected with smallpox exhale small droplets that carry the virus to the nose or mouth of close contacts. The greatest risk comes from prolonged close contact exposure (within seven feet) to an infected person. The longer somebody is in close contact with an infected person, the greater the chance of transmission. Indirect contact is less likely to transmit the virus, but infection still can occur via fine-particle aerosols or inanimate objects carrying the virus. For example, contaminated clothing or bed linen could spread the virus. Smallpox is not known to be transmitted by insects or animals. People are most infectious during the first week of the rash, but a person with smallpox is sometimes contagious with the onset of fever (prodome phase). The infected person is co
