All events in the Viruses portal calendar. To suggest an event for inclusion, use the suggestions page
January
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1 January 1934: Discovery of mumps virus by Claud Johnson and Ernest Goodpasture
1 January 1942: Publication of George Hirst's paper on the haemagglutination assay
1 January 1967: Start of WHO intensified eradication campaign for smallpox (vaccination kit pictured)
3 January 1938: Foundation of March of Dimes, to raise money for polio
6 January 2011: Andrew Wakefield's paper linking the MMR vaccine with autism described as "fraudulent" by the BMJ
25 January 1988: Foundation of the International AIDS Society
29 January 1981: Influenza haemagglutinin structure published by Ian Wilson, John Skehel and Don Wiley, the first viral membrane protein whose structure was solved
February
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February 1939: First virology journal, Archiv für die gesamte Virusforschung, appeared
8 February 1951: Establishment of the HeLa cell line from a cervical carcinoma biopsy, the first immortal human cell line
12 February 1892: Dmitri Ivanovsky (pictured) demonstrated transmission of tobacco mosaic disease by extracts filtered through Chamberland filters; sometimes considered the beginning of virology
19 February 1966: Prion disease kuru shown to be transmissible
23 February 2018: Baloxavir marboxil, the first anti-influenza agent to target the cap-dependent endonuclease activity of the viral polymerase, approved in Japan
27 February 2005: H1N1 influenza strain resistant to oseltamivir reported in a human patient
24 February 1977: Phi X 174 sequenced by Fred Sanger and coworkers, the first virus and the first DNA genome to be sequenced
28 February 1998: Publication of Andrew Wakefield's Lancet paper, subsequently discredited, linking the MMR vaccine with autism, which started the MMR vaccine controversy
March
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March 1990: Proposal for a database of all viruses, later the ICTVdB
3 March 2014: Discovery of Pithovirus sibericum, the largest known virus at 1.5 μm long by 0.5 μm in diameter
4 March 1918: First case reported in the 1918 influenza pandemic
10 March 1956: Francis Crick and James Watson proposed that small viruses have a protein shell consisting of a large number of identical subunits
10 March 1956: Donald Caspar published paper on the structure of tomato bushy stunt virus
13 March 2003: Enfuvirtide (T20) approved; first HIV fusion inhibitor, also first HIV entry inhibitor
20 March 1987: Antiretroviral drug AZT (pictured) became the first antiviral medication approved for use against HIV/AIDS
22 March 2014: First case reported in the West African Ebola outbreak, the most widespread so far
26 March 1953: Jonas Salk reported a successful test of an inactivated polio vaccine.
28 March 2003: Mimivirus shown to be a virus, then the largest known
April
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1 April 1911: Peyton Rous showed that a cell-free isolate could transmit sarcoma in chickens, an early demonstration of cancer caused by a virus
7 April 1931: First electron micrograph taken by Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll
8 April 1976: Bacteriophage MS2 (pictured) sequenced by Walter Fiers and coworkers, first viral genome to be completely sequenced
8 April 1990: Death from AIDS of Ryan White, haemophiliac teenager for whom the Ryan White Care Act is named
8 April 1992: Tennis player Arthur Ashe announced that he had been infected with HIV from blood transfusions
9 April 1982: Stanley Prusiner proposed proteinaceous prions as the cause of scrapie
12 April 1955: Success of trial of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine announced
12 April 2013: New order of double-stranded DNA bacteriophages, Ligamenvirales, announced
15 April 1957: André Lwoff proposes a concise definition of a virus
21 April 1989: Discovery of hepatitis C virus by Qui-Lim Choo and colleagues
28 April 1932: First yellow fever vaccine announced at an American Societies for Experimental Biology meeting by Wilbur Sawyer
29 April 2015: PAHO and WHO declared the Americas region free from rubella transmission
30 April 1937: Discovery of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus, later a model for multiple sclerosis research
May
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May 1955: First issue of Virology; first English-language journal dedicated to virology
4 May 1984: HTLV-III, later HIV, identified as the cause of AIDS by Robert Gallo and coworkers
5 May 1939: First electron micrographs of tobacco mosaic virus taken by Helmut Ruska and coworkers
5 May 1983: Structure of influenza neuraminidase solved by Jose Varghese, Graeme Laver and Peter Colman
8 May 1980: WHO announced formally the global eradication of smallpox
11 May 1978: SV40 sequenced by Walter Fiers and coworkers
12 May 1972: Gene for bacteriophage MS2 coat protein is sequenced by Walter Fiers and coworkers, the first gene to be completely sequenced
13 May 2011: Boceprevir approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the first direct-acting antiviral for HCV
14 May 1796: Edward Jenner inoculated James Phipps (pictured) with cowpox
15/16 May 1969: Death of Robert Rayford, the earliest confirmed case of AIDS outside Africa
18 May 1998: First World AIDS Vaccine Day
20 May 1983: Isolation of the retrovirus LAV, later HIV, by Luc Montagnier, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and coworkers
23 May 2011: Telaprevir approved for the treatment of chronic HCV infection
25 May 2011: WHO declared rinderpest eradicated
31 May 1937: First results in humans from the 17D vaccine for yellow fever published by Max Theiler and Hugh H. Smith
June
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5 June 1981: First report of HIV/AIDS (symbol pictured) appeared in medical literature
6 June 1997: Gene silencing in plants shown to be a viral defence mechanism
7–13 June 1962: Donald Caspar and Aaron Klug proposed the quasi-equivalence principle of virus structure
7–13 June 1962: André Lwoff proposed a viral classification scheme based on nature of genome, type of symmetry and presence of envelope
7–13 June 1962: George Hirst proposed that the influenza virus genome is segmented
9 June 1981: The American Society for Virology was founded
13 June 2012: First case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) occurred in Saudi Arabia
18 June 1981: A vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease was the first genetically engineered vaccine
21 June 1996: Nevirapine approved, first NNRTI for HIV/AIDS
26 June 1993: Clinical trial of hepatitis B virus drug fialuridine terminated; the drug caused several fatalities due to lactic acidosis
28 June 2011: FAO declared rinderpest eradicated
30 June 1985: Ryan White was denied re-admittance to his school after an AIDS diagnosis, in a case that changed public perceptions of the disease
July
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1 July 1796: Edward Jenner first challenged James Phipps with variolation, showing that cowpox inoculation is protective against smallpox
3 July 1980: Structure of southern bean mosaic virus solved by Michael Rossmann and colleagues
6 July 1885: Louis Pasteur (pictured) gave rabies vaccine to Joseph Meister
10 July 1797: Jenner submitted paper on Phipps and other cases to the Royal Society; it was read to the society but not published
14–20 July 1968: First International Congress for Virology held in Helsinki
16 July 2012: FDA approved tenofovir/emtricitabine (Truvada) for prophylactic use against HIV; first prophylactic antiretroviral
19 July 2013: Pandoravirus described, with a genome twice as large as Megavirus
22 July 1966: International Committee on Nomenclature of Viruses (later the ICTV) founded
25 July 1985: Film star Rock Hudson made his AIDS diagnosis public, increasing public awareness of the disease
28 July 2010: First global World Hepatitis Day
August
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1 August 1971: The term viroid was coined by Theodor Diener to describe the agent of potato spindle tuber disease
6 August 2007: Maraviroc, first CCR5 receptor antagonist, approved for HIV/AIDS
8 August 2011: UN declared rinderpest eradicated
8 August 2014: WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa (virus pictured), the most widespread so far, an international public health emergency
18 August 1990: Ryan White Care Act enacted, the largest American federally funded programme for people living with HIV/AIDS
20 August 1780: Start of an outbreak of dengue fever in Philadelphia, USA, which led Benjamin Rush to describe the disease in 1789
26 August 1976: First case of Ebola virus, now the Zaire form
26 August 1998: Fomivirsen, first antisense drug, approved for cytomegalovirus retinitis
September
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1 September 1910: Peyton Rous shows that a sarcoma of chickens, subsequently associated with Rous sarcoma virus, is transmissible
3 September 1917: Discovery of bacteriophage of Shigella by Félix d'Herelle
8 September 1976: Death of Mabalo Lokela, the first known case of Ebola virus
8 September 2015: Discovery of giant virus Mollivirus sibericum in Siberian permafrost
11 September 1978: Janet Parker was the last person to die of smallpox
12 September 1957: Interferon discovered by Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann
12 September 1985: Structure of human rhinovirus 14 (pictured) solved by Michael Rossmann and colleagues, the first atomic-level structure of an animal virus
17 September 1999: Jesse Gelsinger died in a clinical trial of gene therapy using an adenovirus vector, the first known death due to gene therapy
20 September 2015: Wild poliovirus type 2 declared eradicated
26 September 1997: Combivir (zidovudine/lamivudine) approved; first combination antiretroviral
27 September 1985: Structure of poliovirus solved by Jim Hogle and colleagues
28 September 2007: First World Rabies Day is held
October
editPortal:Viruses/Calendar/October
6 October 2008: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Harald zur Hausen for showing that human papillomaviruses cause cervical cancer, and to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for discovering HIV
7 October 2005: 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic strain reconstituted
9 October 1991: Didanosine was the second drug approved for HIV/AIDS
12 October 1928: First use of an iron lung in a poliomyelitis patient
12 October 2007: Raltegravir (pictured) approved; first HIV integrase inhibitor
14 October 1977: Habiba Nur Ali was the last person to die from naturally occurring smallpox
14 October 2010: Rinderpest eradication efforts announced as stopping by the UN
16 October 1975: Last known case of naturally occurring Variola major smallpox reported
25 October 2012: Alipogene tiparvovec, a gene therapy for lipoprotein lipase deficiency using an adeno-associated virus-based vector, was the first gene therapy to be licensed
26 October 1977: Ali Maow Maalin developed smallpox rash; the last known case of naturally occurring Variola minor smallpox
26 October 1979: Smallpox eradication in the Horn of Africa formally declared by WHO, with informal declaration of global eradication
27 October 2015: Talimogene laherparepvec was the first oncolytic virus to be approved by the FDA to treat cancer
November
editPortal:Viruses/Calendar/November
7 November 1991: Magic Johnson announced his retirement from basketball because of his infection with HIV
14 November 1957: Kuru, the first human prion disease, described by Daniel Gajdusek and Vincent Zigas
16 November 2002: The first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (virus pictured) recorded in Guangdong, China
17 November 1995: Lamivudine approved for treatment of HIV
22 November 2013: Simeprevir approved for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection
23 November 1978: Structure of tomato bushy stunt virus solved by Stephen Harrison and colleagues, the first atomic-level structure of a virus
24 November 2007: Outbreak of new Ebola species, Bundibugyo virus
26 November 1898: Martinus Beijerinck coined the term contagium vivum fluidum to describe the agent causing tobacco mosaic disease
December
editPortal:Viruses/Calendar/December
1 December 1988: First World AIDS Day
4 December 1915: Frederick Twort discovered bacteriophages
4 December 2009: New order of single-stranded RNA viruses, Tymovirales, announced
6 December 1995: Saquinavir approved by FDA; the first HIV protease inhibitor
6 December 2013: Sofosbuvir approved for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), the first HCV nucleotide analogue and the first drug approved for interferon-free treatment
9 December 1979: Global Commission for Certification of Smallpox Eradication signed document formally certifying smallpox eradication
15 December 1955: Crystallisation of poliovirus by Fred Schaffer and Carlton Schwerdt, the first animal virus to be crystallised
15 December 1967: Infectious phi X 174 synthesised by Arthur Kornberg and coworkers, the first synthetic virus
18 December 1908: Poliovirus discovered by Karl Landsteiner and Erwin Popper
25 December 1982: Lambda phage (plaques pictured) sequenced by Fred Sanger and coworkers
28 December 1936: Scrapie shown to be transmissible, the first demonstration for a prion disease
29 December 1926: Thomas Milton Rivers proposed that viruses are obligate parasites