Smallpox Threat

 

       Immunization for smallpox stopped in the United States and many other countries in 1972.  The World Health Organization recommended the vaccination be stopped in all countries except for researchers working with smallpox and related viruses in 1979.  The prospect of terrorists using smallpox as a weapon has become a viable threat. Officials say enemies of the U.S., including North Korea and Iraq, possess the deadly virus.  The government plans to make the vaccine available to the population beginning in 2004. Healthcare and military personnel will be vaccinated this year.

    The following websites contain information dealing with the potential threat for smallpox:

What Healthcare Workers Need to Know Smallpox Information
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Smallpox and Biological Warfare
Smallpox Vaccination Smallpox Questions and Answers
Countering the Smallpox Threat U.S. Preparing to Meet Smallpox Threat
Center for Law and Public Health Institute for Health Freedom
National Vaccine Information Center National Institutes of Health
Fact Sheet on Smallpox World Health Organization

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Last Updated February 22, 2003
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