Summary report of the 24th and 25th meetings of the WHO Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research.

The purpose of the research overseen by the WHO Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research, as mandated by the World Health Assembly,1 is to develop medical countermeasures to enhance global preparedness in the event of natural, accidental or deliberate re-emergence of smallpox. In line with World Health Assembly resolution WHA 60.1 (2007), research with variola virus must be of public health benefit for humanity, and countermeasures resulting from the research are to be made available to WHO Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]