BCG vaccine fine powder. Sometimes the powder is sealed with vacuum in a glass ampoule. Such a glass ampoule has to be opened slowly to prevent the airflow from blowing out the powder. Then the powder has to be diluted with saline water before injecting. The history of BCG is tied to that of smallpox. Jean Antoine Villemin first recognized bovine tuberculosis in 1854 and transmitted it, and Robert Koch first distinguished "Mycobacterium bovis" from "Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Following the success of vaccination in preventing smallpox, established during the 18th century, scientists thought to find a corollary in tuberculosis by drawing a parallel
Inoculation to re-infection. In 1798, the English surgeon/scientist Edward Jenner published the results of his experiments and thus introduced the far superior and safer method of inoculation with cowpox virus, a mild infection that also induced immunity to smallpox. Jenner was not the first person to inoculate with cowpox nor the first to realize that infection with cowpox gave immunity to smallpox. However, he was the first to publish evidence that it was effective and to provide advice on its production. His efforts led to smallpox inoculation falling into disuse and eventually being banned in England in 1840. Inoculation The terms