Smallpox...again?

[FionaS]

I've noted the commenst vis a vis smallpox vaccination but surely the really worrying thing is thatthis now sems to be mooted as a genuine possibility when for years we have been told smallpox has been eradicated except for two samples one in Russia and one in the US. Given that the govt appear to be ttreating this issue serioulsy, doesn't ot then follow that the threat is serious and of so, what's all this cobblers we've had for years about it being gone? How did it arise again?

[incitatus]

It didnt arise again. Its just that the labs in the us and notably russia are very insecure. The possibility of people bgetting their hands on it is quite high. Remember that the anthrax strain used in the us came originally from a us government lab, though who bred it since then is a mystery. The last case of smallpox was in 1978 as I recall. And in Birmingham too....or certainly that was one of the last.