Smallpox... still a threat?

The podcast presented by the CDC discussed briefly the history of smallpox and its uses in bioterrorism. It also discussed the fact that since the 1970's, when smallpox was eradicated, there have been fewer and fewer, and finally no, vaccinations given.

I think the eradication of smallpox has left us vulnerable. We may have eliminated it in the human population, but that does not mean the disease no longer exists or poses a threat.

Smallpox is still stored in laboratories, meaning that if it were to fall into the wrong hands, the results could be devastating. Smallpox is no longer seen as a threat, and therefore vaccinations for it are no longer given. If a population were exposed to smallpox now, the fact that it is not a vaccinated population means many people would become ill and die.

Public Health and Bioterrorism relate in this way. It was a great public health success to eradicate smallpox, but it left the population vulnerable to smallpox if it were ever used as a bio-weapon. If we continued to vaccinate, this threat would be diminished.

The eradication of this disease was a good thing, but as I said before, that does not mean it is gone all together. There are vials of smallpox sitting in freezers somewhere, and I hope for the sake of our population that those vials stay right where they are.