Lethal smallpox weapon test in '71 spurs vaccination talk
By Calvin Woodward Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Officials weighing whether to dispense smallpox vaccine to the nation were presented with the possibility Saturday that the virus might be a more effective terrorist weapon than they thought.
U.S. researcher Alan Zelicoff, drawing on long-secret Soviet documents, reported on an isolated 1971 outbreak he said appeared to have been caused by smallpox that was tested as a weapon and carried miles through the air.
While Zelicoff's analysis created something of a sensation at a conference of scientists and health officials, not all were buying the theory, and some were openly skeptical.
"I see nothing whatsoever that's new," said D.A. Henderson, who advises the government on bio-terrorism and led the campaign that eradicated smallpox worldwide more than 20 years ago. He called the report alarmist.
Public health officials are stockpiling more than 300 million smallpox doses, enough to protect everyone in the country in the event terrorists somehow get hold of the virus and use it to attack.
Meantime, they are deciding whether to offer the vaccine to the public in the absence of any smallpox cases. Saturday's conference was part of a series on that issue.
The vaccine has serious side effects for many people and would be expected to kill several hundred if it were given to all Americans.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told the meeting it is one of the least safe vaccines around, although clearly a lifesaver if smallpox makes a comeback.
The live virus is known to exist now only in heavily guarded labs of the U.S. and Russian governments, but there are fears other countries have secretly stored it, and it may fall into terrorist hands.
Smallpox has shortcomings as a weapon, starting with the difficulty of turning it into an aerosol dispersing agent that can survive the elements and infect people over much distance.
(Soviet) Officials controlled the outbreak by hurriedly vaccinating more than 50,000 people.
