Venezuelan equine encephalitis dissemination

Category B agents are those agents that are more difficult to disseminate and/ or would result in moderate morbidity and low mortality rates. Current Category B ents include ricin, Q fever, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, cholera, and T2 mycotoxin. 

Harper was one of the first investigators to study viral aerosols and he showed that survival depended very much on the composition of the disseminating fluid. Poliovirus and Foot and Mouth virus survive best at high RH whereas Semliki Forest virus, vaccinia, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis and influenza virus are most stable at low RH. The DNA-containing viruses, pigeon pox virus, and Simian virus 40 maintain their infectivity over a wide range of RH. 

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