Adverse Reaction After Vaccinia Virus Vaccination — New Mexico, 2016

On Feb 4, 2016, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) was contacted regarding a patient who had received ACAM2000* smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine 12 days earlier as part of an institutional review board-approved study at a plasma donation center and had numerous lesions surrounding the inoculation site and on the opposite arm, back, and abdomen. ACAM2000 is a live-virus vaccine indicated for active immunization against smallpox. Vaccinia virus is highly effective in preventing smallpox by stimulating an immune response to the closely related Orthopoxvirus. The inoculation site is considered infectious until the scab falls off and intact skin has regrown (2-4 weeks). The patient, a man aged 57 years, had no ocular, oral, nasal, or genital lesions.