US ORDERS 40 MILLION DOSES OF SMALLPOX VACCINE

[Guest guest]

IndependentHow did they know we were going to have problems with smallpox

back in April, since smallpox has not been in this country since 1949.

They must have a crystal ball!

 

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http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=68020#top

 

Monday, April 23, 2001 8:52 PM

US ORDERS 40 MILLION DOSES OF SMALLPOX VACCINE

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24 April 2001 05:58 GMT+1

Independent

US on alert for smallpox terror attack

By Jeremy Laurence, health editor

22 April 2001

The US government has ordered 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine from a

British company in a sign of the growing alarm that terrorists could unleash

lethal viruses in future battles against Western states.

The astonishing size of the contract ­ worth $343m (£200m) ­ highlights the

fears on both sides of the Atlantic about the threat of biological

terrorism. If a virus such as smallpox was released, the speed of modern

communications could spread the infection all over the world in days.

In the UK, the health department warned all NHS hospitals last year to

prepare for a criminal or terrorist attack on their local populations

involving biological weapons. Police teams trained by scientists from Porton

Down, the government research centre on biological and chemical warfare,

have been formed to take the lead role in the event of an attack.

The British Medical Association said that advances in technology meant

biological weapons were now easier to manufacture than chemical ones,

increasing the risk that they could be used in an attack.

Over the past 40 years there have been 121 incidents around the world

involving the use of biological agents. The use of sarin nerve gas in an

attack by a Japanese terrorist organisation six years ago, in which 12

people were killed and 5,000 injured, focused world attention on the threat.

The US last year set aside $1.4bn (£940m) for protection against chemical or

biological attacks.

The latest contract for smallpox vaccine is against a disease that no longer

exists ­ and the world must hope it will never encounter again. It was

eradicated from the planet in 1980 and only two research institutions ­ one

in the US and one in Russia ­ still retain stocks of the virus.

The threat of a smallpox attack is highlighted in the preview edition of

Infectious Diseases, a new journal published by The Lancet. Donald Henderson

of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health said: " A large stockpile of

vaccine is a very high priority because smallpox has a 30 per cent fatality

rate. There is no vaccine production capacity anywhere in the world and we

now have a very susceptible population. "

The vaccine ordered by the US government is being manufactured by a US

subsidiary of the Cambridge-based UK biotechnology company Acambis, formerly

known as Peptide Therapeutics. Delivery to the US government's Center for

Disease Control in Atlanta is due to start from mid-2004.

A spokeswoman said: " At the moment we are going through the process of

developing and licensing the vaccine, but under the contract we have the

right to sell it to anyone who wants it. When the time comes we will be

marketing it to other governments, including the UK. It certainly would be a

logical step for them to take. "

The likelihood of a chemical or biological attack in the UK is seen as low

by the Department of Health, but the results could be devastating. Working

parties have been set up to consider the threat and exercises have been run

in parts of the country. Lists of the most likely agents to be used have

been drawn up, together with advice on how many people they might kill or

injure, and strategies for treating the victims.

In the US, fear of biological terrorism has become as unnerving as the

threat itself. President Clinton's declaration in 1998 that he expected a

biological or chemical attack within the next five years has fuelled alarm

and provided fertile ground for hoaxers.

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