[iwar] [fc:UN's.smallpox.terror.alert]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-22 07:16:59

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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 07:16:59 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:UN's.smallpox.terror.alert]
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UN's smallpox terror alert 

Anthony Browne, health editor
Sunday October 21, 2001
The Observer 

Governments around the world have been warned to prepare against a
terrorist smallpox attack which could kill millions.  The World Health
Organisation has told them to ensure they can produce enough vaccine to
protect their population against the disease, and is preparing to order
mass precautionary vaccination of all citizens.  'The unthinkable is no
longer unthinkable and we need to prepare for that,' said a spokesperson
for the WHO, the United Nations' health agency.  'There has been a lot
of concern about a smallpox outbreak.  The numbers it would kill are
scary.'

The British Government last week issued emergency guidance to health
professionals on how to deal with an outbreak.  The guidance, seen by
The Observer, says smallpox is a serious threat because it is easily
passed from person to person, has a fatality rate of up to 90 per cent,
can kill in 48 hours, and few people have been vaccinated.  'In the
event of a deliberate release, it is unlikely that single, mild cases
will occur - it is more likely that clusters of moderate to severe
disease will be seen.'

The WHO masterminded the eradication of smallpox in 1977 and since the
early Eighties has advised governments not to vaccinate.  Most under-40s
in the UK have not been immunised. 

Following the US anthrax attacks, which by last night had infected a
reported 38 people, concern there about a smallpox outbreak is so high
that it has ordered 300 million doses of the vaccine from
Cambridge-based biotech company Acambis.  Medical studies suggest that
an out break in the US would kill around a million people in three
months.  The NHS has ordered supplies, but it is not thought to be
enough to cover the population. 

Last week, Gro Harlem Bruntland, the WHO's director-general, told its
Smallpox Advisory Group to consider whether to tell all governments to
go ahead with mass vaccination. 

It is a devastating setback for the WHO, which considers the eradication
of smallpox its greatest achievement.  It is also not without danger,
since vaccination can cause severe side-effects, including permanent
brain damage, or even death. 

After its eradication, the smallpox virus was kept in only two
laboratories in the world - in Atlanta in the US, and Koltsovo in
Siberia.  The last two samples were due to be destroyed next year. 
However, a Soviet defector revealed that the dying Communist regime used
smallpox in a missile programme. 

There have also been allegations that supplies were sold to Iraq and
North Korea. 

Initial smallpox symptoms include fever, severe headache, back and chest
pains and intense anxiety.  Victims develop blotchy rashes, often with
purple lesions, followed by a face rash similar to sunburn and severe
scarring. 

Death can take from 48 hours to two weeks.  There is no treatment. 

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