Smallpox should be saved (Nature, Editorial, 1st paragraph, edited)

[Giuseppe]

Smallpox should be saved (Nature, Editorial, 1st paragraph, edited)


[Source: Nature, full text: <cite cite="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v469/n7330/full/469265a.html">Smallpox should be saved : Nature : Nature Publishing Group</cite>. 1st paragraph, edited.]

Smallpox should be saved

Journal name: Nature
Volume: 469, Page: 265
Date published: (20 January 2011)
DOI: doi:10.1038/469265a
Published online 19 January 2011

Secure virus stocks in the United States and Russia may still prove useful and should not be destroyed. A political compromise is the best way to make that happen.


For much of the world's population, smallpox is a disease of history. The variola virus that causes it last swept through humans in a natural outbreak in Somalia in 1977, and the world was declared free of smallpox in 1980. The disease that killed Queen Mary II of England, Tsar Peter II of Russia, King Louis XV of France and hundreds of millions more during the past century alone is gone ? but not forgotten. Smallpox lives on in the memories of those who witnessed its awful impact first hand. It is a terrifying spectre for those who warn that terrorists may seek to spread disease. And it survives in two laboratories, where research continues on live virus.

(...)
-
------<cite cite="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v469/n7330/full/469265a.html"></cite>

[Shiloh]

Re: Smallpox should be saved (Nature, Editorial, 1st paragraph, edited)

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...030802087.html

Should last remaining known smallpox virus die?
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 8, 2011; 9:52 AM

More than three decades after smallpox was eradicated, an international struggle has reemerged with new intensity about whether to destroy the only known specimens of the virus that causes one of the worst scourges to plague humanity...

...Every laboratory except one in the United States and one in Russia subsequently agreed to destroy any samples they had, and the WHO in 1990 set a deadline for getting rid of the last two by 1993. But the United States balked in 1994 after revelations emerged that that the former Soviet Union had worked to develop smallpox as a biological weapon. Since then, both the United States and Russia have repeatedly postponed, citing concerns that Iraq, Iran, North Korea and others might be hiding the virus and the imperative to conduct more research.

Because of the successful eradication program, vaccination programs stopped worldwide, leaving most defenseless against the disease. The United States discontinued immunizations in 1972, so anyone born after 1967 is vulnerable...

[Tonka]

Re: Smallpox should be saved (Nature, Editorial, 1st paragraph, edited)

http://www.publico.es/377518/destino-de-ultimas-reservas-de-virus-de-la-viruela-divide-a-oms

Spanish to English translation

Destination of last reserves of smallpox WHO divides
Reuters 05/20/2011 20:56 Updated: 05/20/2011 23:05
* U.S., Russia seek to delay destruction decision 5 years

* Some developing countries requested WHO to set date and

By Stephanie Nebehay

Health ministers are deeply divided over setting a date to destroy remaining stocks of live smallpox virus, which are stored in Russia and the United States, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

The two powers are needed to indicate that further research on safer vaccines against the deadly disease eradicated over 30 years.

They also seek assurances that all reservations have been destroyed or transferred to a reservoir two officers, due to fears the virus could be used as a biological weapon.

But their joint proposal to postpone five years any decision on when to destroy stockpiles of the virus has faced opposition at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO), where the issue has been on the agenda in the last 25 years .

"Many developing countries want to see the virus destroyed the first one, and especially Iran," said a diplomatic source told Reuters.

Iran is already discussing with the United States and other powers over its nuclear program. Tehran denies Western accusations it is seeking to have the capacity to produce nuclear weapons, arguing that its atomic activities are only aimed at generating electricity.

Many countries report that reservations are the smallpox virus should be eradicated, because the disease no longer exists among the population and the virus is lethal.

They also believe that technology exists to develop new vaccines and antivirals without the need for the virus.

The U.S. decision and Russia is formally backed by 19 other countries, including Britain, Canada and Japan, as well as former Soviet republics.

The 193 members of WHO, health agency of the United Nations, make most decisions by consensus, but the rules allow a vote. The debate has been postponed until Monday, a day before the end of the Annual Meeting.

"We hope the resolution is adopted," he told Reuters on Friday in Geneva, a spokesman for the U.S. diplomatic mission.

In 1979 the WHO certified that smallpox, an acute contagious disease, was eradicated from the world, two years after the last case was detected in Somalia.

The disease did not reappear naturally anymore, but a woman died in Britain in 1978 after being accidentally exposed to the virus in a laboratory.

But there are fears that rogue states or to interfere in military reserves and arbitrarily releasing the pathogen.

Biosecurity inspectors visited WHO in 2009 for the last time the two reservoirs of the virus of smallpox, located at the Centers for Disease Control and Disease Prevention (CDC for its acronym in English)-based in Atlanta - and the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia.

They found that both sites are safe for work with live virus.

The WHO also maintains an emergency stockpile of 32.6 million doses, which says it is stored safely in Switzerland.

[Tonka]

Re: Smallpox should be saved (Nature, Editorial, 1st paragraph, edited)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5geakMnaHBJYSWWueV2Y98DhvMcTw?docId=CNG.1d93fca66a08e1127139df273356de9b.e01

Spanish to English translation


WHO discusses future samples of smallpox virus
(AFP) - 2 days ago
GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) heatedly discussed on Monday the future samples of smallpox virus, which Russia and the United States wants to preserve, while others advocate its destruction.
The question concerning the destruction of the last official stocks of the deadly virus, maintained in U.S. and Russian laboratories, has been recurrent in WHO since 1986.
Washington and Moscow want the virus samples are kept for scientific reasons, arguing that is necessary to continue research on vaccines to prevent any resurgence of infectious disease eradicated in 1979.
The fear in particular is that countries may have secretly kept the virus in order to use it as a biological weapon.
In a draft resolution presented this Monday to the 193 WHO member states, Russia and the United States once again sought to preserve the samples, and wanted to start discussing a possible date for its destruction in just five years.
"We feel we have no assurance as to the efficiency and the preparation of vaccines," said the Russian envoy.
"The destruction is irreversible," he added, noting that it is necessary to be twice as cautious about an issue that concerns the safety of all mankind. "
"After the survey, we can determine the date," it added.
European Union, Canada, Israel, Monaco, Colombia and China are among countries that supported the measure.
However, about 20 countries, including North African nations, Iran, Thailand, Zimbabwe and Malaysia are strongly opposed to the resolution, saying the immediate destruction of the virus should be determined.
"There is no scientific justification for keeping these viruses," said a Malaysian diplomat.
"It's been 30 years since we decided to keep the stocks," said an Iranian envoy. "It's time to set a date certain" to eradicate them.
Amid the discord, the WHO decided to create a working group to draft a compromise bill later this Monday.

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Smallpox should be saved (Nature, Editorial, 1st paragraph, edited)

They also believe that technology exists to develop new vaccines and antivirals without the need for the virus.

.... a separate review by independent experts argued that the only "compelling" reason to keep the live virus is to meet regulatory requirements for testing vaccines and drugs, and new methods should be developed that don't require the live virus http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...510493118.html