Smallpox was eradicated in 1979, but live virus samples are still kept in labs for research purposes. Some scientists worry about the safety of these samples and the possibility of bioterrorism. Countries have checked their vaccine stockpiles and companies keep virus samples for vaccine production.
Smallpox is an acute, infectious virus that has historically devastated many populations. As concerns about bioterrorism increased in the late 20th century, some people wondered if this virus still exists. The short answer is yes, but the long answer is a little more complicated.
In 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a global campaign to eliminate smallpox through vaccination. Many WHO employees have traveled the world, looking for cases of natural diseases and vaccinating the surrounding population to prevent their spread. In 1979, WHO announced that the last wild case had been documented, effectively defeating the disease. Several labs have kept samples of the disease, however, for use in vaccine research and development.
Scientists argued that live virus samples in laboratories should not be destroyed, as they may one day be needed for research. If, for example, someone could engineer smallpox, perhaps from vaccine scabs harvested before 1979, it would pose a serious bioterrorism threat. Additionally, a naturally occurring smallpox virus could potentially evolve into a fatal disease, in which case smallpox samples for comparison could be very useful when developing a vaccine.
As a result, it was agreed that two laboratories would store the samples, one in the US and one in Russia. America’s stockpile of the vaccine is located at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, where it is closely guarded and periodically checked for integrity. The Russian stock is held in Siberia, at the Vector State Research Center for Virology and Biotech, and these samples are also expected to be closely guarded, although some international organizations have raised questions about the safety of the location.
Some scientists are also concerned that other countries may actually have samples of the virus or may have access to vaccine scabs, which carry a small reservoir of DNA that could be sequenced. Some of these samples may also come from Vector, which has had security issues. In the 1990s, this led to increased global concern about bioterrorism, as large parts of the population had not been vaccinated for the disease. It has also been suggested that the vaccine may not be lifelong, so a large portion of the world may be vulnerable.
For this reason, several countries have checked their stockpiles of vaccines, to make sure they are still good. Additionally, several companies keep samples of some of the virus for use in vaccine production, ensuring that smallpox can be quickly dealt with if it comes back.
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