This means that people could make smallpox in the lab. He's a virologist at the University of Florida who doesn't work with live smallpox but has advised the WHO on smallpox research.
A sophisticated laboratory could resurrect smallpox right now. And at some point in the near future, anyone could. And if that is the case, then what would destroying the samples in these two labs in the US and Russia really accomplish? We might be able to destroy smallpox this year, but we won't be able to destroy it forever.
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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Why we'll never actually destroy the last samples of smallpox. Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share All sharing options Share All sharing options for: Why we'll never actually destroy the last samples of smallpox. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Electron microscope image of the smallpox virus UIG via Getty Images When the world eradicated smallpox in , it was the first — and still only — time that people have been able to completely wipe out a human disease.
Scientists have been debating whether to destroy the last samples Ever since then, scientists and health experts have been debating whether to destroy the last remaining lab samples of the smallpox virus — and eliminate the small risk of the virus ever escaping.
For better or for worse, this seems the most likely scenario — and here are five reasons why: 1 The US and Russia likely won't trust each other to destroy smallpox samples The current battle over smallpox is often as much a political one as a health one. Getty Images. Next Up In The Latest. Delivered Fridays. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email required. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy.
For more newsletters, check out our newsletters page. The Latest. The NIH believes that the box that held the smallpox vials dates back to the s, but the virus is extremely stable in its powdered form and could still be infectious.
But most experts believe that numerous stocks exist around the world, whether in clandestine labs or preserved in human tissue , such as the scabs used for immunizations against smallpox into the twentieth century. A similarly forgotten stock of smallpox was found in a lab in Eastern Europe in the s, for instance, and more recently at the former Swiss Serum and Vaccine Institute in Bern, says Peter Jahrling, a virologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Frederick, Maryland.
And those are only the stocks that officials know about: Jahrling says that he found out about the latest discovery when White House officials were discussing how to notify the WHO. He says that in the past, the response to such discoveries would probably have been simply to heat the virus to very high temperatures to kill it. But the case is unusual, Damon says, because the vials were stored in a cold unit instead of in a liquid nitrogen freezer, as the official stocks are.
The NIH says that it plans to conduct a comprehensive search of all its laboratory spaces as soon as possible. But such a move may not be sufficient to find other forgotten stocks, if they exist, says Jahrling, because disorganized scientists could have squirrelled samples away in unexpected places decades ago.
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Infectious diseases: Smallpox watch Apr WHO to decide fate of smallpox stocks May US smallpox vaccine stocks questioned Aug WHO defers decision on smallpox stocks.
WHO postpones decision on destruction of smallpox stocks — again. Vaccinia smallpox vaccine, derived from calf lymph, and currently licensed in the United States, is a lyophilized, live-virus preparation of infectious vaccinia virus. It does not contain smallpox variola virus. Smallpox, caused by the variola virus, was a highly contagious infectious disease that caused infected individuals to develop a fever and a progressive, disfiguring skin rash. Three of out 10 individuals infected with smallpox died.
Many survivors have permanent scars, often on their faces, or were left blind. Through vaccination, the disease was eradicated in However, research for effective vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for smallpox continues in the event it is used as a bioterror weapon. The last naturally occurring case of smallpox was reported in In , the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated.
Currently, there is no evidence of naturally occurring smallpox transmission anywhere in the world. Although a worldwide immunization program eradicated smallpox disease decades ago, small quantities of smallpox virus officially still exist in two research laboratories in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Russia.
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