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
BCG disease outbreak in Finland in the 2000s been crimes committed relating to use of the BCG vaccine. BCG disease outbreak in Finland in the 2000s BCG disease is an adverse effect of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine. The vaccine contains living "Mycobacterium bovis" BCG, and in BCG disease, the bacterium causes a disease in persons vaccinated. Between 2000 and 2006, several hundred children in Finland had serious adverse events from the vaccine, including osteitis and osteomyelitis, disseminated (usually fatal) BCG infection, arthritis, and lymph node abscesses. Four deaths were registered in the official adverse event register, and while in only two cases a clear causal link was considered