Smallpox post eradication

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Michael Maddaleni, B.S.

Overview[edit | edit source]

After the reported death by smallpox accident in 1978, all known stocks of the virus were destroyed. Today only the United States CDC and Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR have the virus in their laboratories for research purposes.

Post-Eradication[edit | edit source]

In 1978, there was evidently an escape of smallpox from containment in a research laboratory in Birmingham, England. A medical photographer, Janet Parker, died from the disease itself, after which the Professor responsible for the unit, Professor Henry Bedson, committed suicide. In light of this accident, all known stocks of smallpox were destroyed, except the stocks at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR in Koltsovo, where a regiment of troops guards it. Under such tight control, smallpox would, it was thought, never be let out again. Even though the destruction of virus stocks was ordered in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996, they have not yet been destroyed, since a number of researchers still wish to retain the stocks for scientific purposes.

In March 2003 smallpox scabs were found tucked inside an envelope in a book on Civil War medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico.^[1] The envelope was labeled as containing the scabs and listed the names of the patients they came from. Assuming the contents could be dangerous, the librarian who found them did not open the envelope. The scabs ended up with employees from the CDC who responded quickly once informed of the discovery. The discovery raised concerns that smallpox DNA could be extracted from these and other scabs and used for a biological attack. Even with Variola sequenced, assembling a virus from scratch remains challenging.

References[edit | edit source]

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