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The threat of bioterrorism has apparently
convinced the Bush administration that it should retain the
nation's stock of smallpox virus - one of only two official
repositories for smallpox samples in the world.
The administration argued that the
samples may be needed to help develop new drug treatments
and vaccines against the disease. The decision
is a sensible response to the small but frightening risk that
a rogue nation or terrorist group might obtain the virus and
unleash it.
Smallpox was eradicated as a disease more
than two decades ago, and all remaining stocks of the virus
were supposed to be transferred to two official repositories
designated by the World Health Organization, one in Russia
and one in the United States.
Debate then ensued over whether even these
stocks should be destroyed - to lessen the chance of smallpox
escaping again and to set a moral example that even possession
of smallpox samples violated global norms. The stumbling block
has been intelligence reports that North Korea and Iraq may
have retained clandestine stocks for military use.
Some scientists who believe that the remaining
samples should be destroyed point out that new
vaccines and antiviral drugs can be developed without them,
by testing against related viruses.
But the smallpox samples would clearly
have some value for these purposes. Indeed, the prestigious
Institute of Medicine concluded that the most compelling reason
for retention would be to develop antiviral drugs or novel
vaccines.
The institute's expert panel made no judgment
on whether the stocks should be retained or destroyed. But
at a time when bioterrorism has become disturbingly real,
it seems wise to err on the side of retention.
New York Times
November 16, 2001
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