'Forgotten' US smallpox vials found in box

[webfact]

'Forgotten' US smallpox vials found in cardboard box

WASHINGTON: -- Long forgotten vials of smallpox left in a cardboard box have been discovered by a government scientist at a research centre near Washington, officials say.

The virus, believed dead, was located in six freeze-dried and sealed vials, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It is said to be the first time unaccounted-for smallpox has been discovered in the US.

The disease was officially declared eradicated in the 1980s.

"The vials appear to date from the 1950s. Upon discovery, the vials were immediately secured in a CDC-registered select agent containment laboratory in Bethesda, [Maryland]," according to a CDC statement.

"There is no evidence that any of the vials labelled variola has been breached, and onsite biosafety personnel have not identified any infectious exposure risk to lab workers or the public," the statement added.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28221185


-- BBC 2014-07-09

[NeverSure]

Make a horror movie out of that. How many people are there now who aren't immune?

[Rob8891]

I just finished reading a book on this very subject! People are not vaccinated against smallpox now, so an outbreak would be devastating worldwide.

[GentlemanJim]

Tip of the "we got lots of nasty stuff stored away somewhere secret" iceberg.

[lostsoul49]

Why even keep it?

Just bloody destroy the damn stuff.

[GentlemanJim]

I just finished reading a book on this very subject! People are not vaccinated against smallpox now, so an outbreak would be devastating worldwide.

It is a WMD that is for sure. I agree with lostsoul49, it should be destroyed immediately.

[webfact]

Smallpox found in Washington DC storage room
Lena Sun and Brady Dennis

WASHINGTON: -- A US government scientist cleaning out a storage room at a laboratory of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has found decades-old vials of smallpox, the second incident involving the mishandling of a highly dangerous pathogen by a US health agency in a month.

This is the first time that the deadly virus has been discovered outside the only two facilities in the world where smallpox samples are allowed, by international agreement, to be stored - a highly secure lab in Atlanta, USA, and a virology and biotechnology research center in Novosibirsk, Russia. It remains a mystery how the smallpox came to be stored at the laboratory.

The vials, which appear to date from the 1950s, were flown Sunday night by government plane to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, officials said on Tuesday. Initial testing confirmed the presence of smallpox virus DNA. Further testing, which could take up to two weeks, will determine whether the material is live. The samples will be destroyed after the testing is completed.

Full story: http://www.theage.com.au/world/smallpox-found-in-washington-dc-storage-room-20140709-zt1f7.html


-- The Age 2014-07-09

[Chicog]

Why even keep it?

Just bloody destroy the damn stuff.

Because if a similar virus appears in the future (e.g. a mutated Cowpox) they might need it to create a vaccine.

[brianP]

What other crap is floating around???

[Dap]

What other crap is floating around???

I'm guessin' a lot more than "we" would care to know about.

As previously stated ... "tip of the iceberg".

[TPI]

Yiiiiiikes!!

[BWPattaya]

I have always thought that the only place that stored Smallpox was Porton Down in the UK.

[oTwoPies]

Why even keep it?

Just bloody destroy the damn stuff.

Because if a similar virus appears in the future (e.g. a mutated Cowpox) they might need it to create a vaccine.

Well said Chicog.

Glad to see some other TVers understand

[belg]

smallpox, the new aids?

and who knows how much garbage is spreak secretly in the air, water, food

30.000 chemicals in the food business

and someone, at a point, said, this amount is safe for humans (aka not killing them right away, but maybe in the long run)

obesity, autism, astma, adhd, like never seen before