Small Pox and Bioterrorism

[Grim Reaper 6]

Hello everyone, i want to offer you some information about Small Pox that you may not be aware of. Bioterrorism is a tool, that a terrorist could use to kill large numbers of people. Small Pox has been made into a Biological Weapon in the past, it is very deadly when released into the general population. If Small Pox were released as a weapon it would have a devastating effect on the population where the release took place for the following reasons.

1.  Small Pox was concidered eradicated in 1980 according to the CDC. Therefore people born after 1980 have not been vaccinated for this Virus. Even those who were vaccinated prior to the eradication of Small Pox are most likely no longer safe, because the vaccine will not give lifelong immunity. 

2.   If anyone today was reported to have contacted Small Pox, it would immediately be considered an act of Terrorism. 

3.   There is a concern that since countries made weapons using the Small Pox virus in the past. Some of these weapons may have fallen into the hands of terrorists or other individuals with criminal intentions. 

4.    Keeping this in mind it may be wise to talk with your doctor about getting vaccinated. Doing so now is the best choice you can make, because after a release of this biological weapon it will be to late. Because there may not be enough vaccine to go around, and once infected the vaccine will have no effect.

Here is a link to the CDC on the Bioterrorism use of Small Pox. This site will give you all the information you need to prepare and protect yourself and your family.

https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/bioterrorism/public/threat.html

Edited September 1, 2019 by Manwon Lender

[Grim Reaper 6]

4 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

Hello everyone, i want to offer you some information about Small Pox that you may not be aware of. Bioterrorism is a tool, that a terrorist could use to kill large numbers of people. Small Pox has been made into a Biological Weapon in the past, it is very deadly when released into the general population. If Small Pox were released as a weapon it would have a devastating effect on the population where the release took place for the following reasons.

1.  Small Pox was concidered eradicated in 1980 according to the CDC. Therefore people born after 1980 have not been vaccinated for this Virus. Even those who were vaccinated prior to the eradication of Small Pox are most likely no longer safe, because the vaccine will not give lifelong immunity. 

2.   If anyone today was reported to have contacted Small Pox, it would immediately be considered an act of Terrorism. 

3.   There is a concern that since countries made weapons using the Small Pox virus in the past. Some of these weapons may have fallen into the hands of terrorists or other individuals with criminal intentions. 

4.    Keeping this in mind it may be wise to talk with your doctor about getting vaccinated. Doing so now is the best choice you can make, because after a release of this biological weapon it will be to late. Because there may not be enough vaccine to go around, and once infected the vaccine will have no effect.

Here is a link to the CDC on the Bioterrorism use of Small Pox. This site will give you all the information you need to prepare and protect yourself and your family.

https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/bioterrorism/public/threat.html

Bioterrorism is a very serious subject. It actually could become a terrorists weapon of choice. Its easy to transport, and it cause massive casualties throughout a release area. The two main viruses that would most likely be used are Anthrax and Small Poxs. Anthrax infected people do not cause a secondary contamination because once infected they do not become contagious.

However, people infected by Small Pox will infect others by simply coughing on someone, Small Pox is very contagious and people infected will remain contagious for 30 days or more. The blisters that form will file with pus, the scab that forms and the pus I are both filled with the virus and are very contagious.

[RoofGardener]

I'd agree with most of the above. However, smallpox is a very difficult virus to weaponise. There are only 2 or 3 stocks of it left in the world, all in heavily guarded laboratories. It would be very difficult for a terrorist to get hold of of a sample. They would then have to grow the virus to make enough for multiple large-scale attacks. 

Once the virus is in the wild, it is relatively easy to prevent it spreading (or at least, to massively slow it down). Just ask people to stay at home, and do not have physical contact with anybody.

It is a nasty scenario, but not armageddon. 

[DarkHunter]

57 minutes ago, RoofGardener said:

I'd agree with most of the above. However, smallpox is a very difficult virus to weaponise. There are only 2 or 3 stocks of it left in the world, all in heavily guarded laboratories. It would be very difficult for a terrorist to get hold of of a sample. They would then have to grow the virus to make enough for multiple large-scale attacks. 

Once the virus is in the wild, it is relatively easy to prevent it spreading (or at least, to massively slow it down). Just ask people to stay at home, and do not have physical contact with anybody.

It is a nasty scenario, but not armageddon. 

Actually getting a smallpox sample might not be a problem.  In 2004 a book on civil war medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico was found that had smallpox scabs held within an envelope within the book.  In 2014 6 vials of smallpox along with other pathogens were found in a cold storage room in a FDA laboratory at the National Institute of Health.  

Also in 2017 a team of Canadian scientists recreated an extinct horse pox virus from scratch to show that in theory a small lab with no specialist knowledge could recreate smallpox from scratch for about $100,000.

Luckily vaccines/antiviral treatments for smallpox are still being produced and atleast some of the vaccines/antiviral treatments can work after being exposed.  As long as the vaccine/antiviral treatment is received within three days of exposure it will prevent or severely lessen the severity in the vast majority of people, while 4 to 7 days after exposure will offer some protection and reduce severity to some extent. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

14 hours ago, RoofGardener said:

I'd agree with most of the above. However, smallpox is a very difficult virus to weaponise. There are only 2 or 3 stocks of it left in the world, all in heavily guarded laboratories. It would be very difficult for a terrorist to get hold of of a sample. They would then have to grow the virus to make enough for multiple large-scale attacks. 

Once the virus is in the wild, it is relatively easy to prevent it spreading (or at least, to massively slow it down). Just ask people to stay at home, and do not have physical contact with anybody.

It is a nasty scenario, but not armageddon. 

Hello and thanks for your comments. While I agree there are only a few Know stocks left in the world and they are certainly heavily guarded, not even the CDC knows if all the stocks other countries had were destroyed. At one time most countries around the world had and used this virus to create vaccines.

Some countries went further and weaponised Small Pox for use in biological weapons. Iran had supplies of Small Pox before the country was taken over in 1979, by the current Government. When the Warsaw Pact fell apart in 1990, many such biological materials along with weapons grade Plutonium, and Uranium disappeared and were never accounted for.

I have an adove average knowledge of these issues because of my military training as a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare Specialist. I have been involved in war gaming a scenario where Small Pox was used as a weapon and the results were very poor. While the outbreak was contained it was also spread to many countries around the world. Very large numbers of people that were in infected died, and the medical centers were over run. This was mainly due to people not being vaccinated prior to the out break and a shortage of antiviral drugs.

 Being vaccinated in advance is the key, that is why I started this thread. You would be surprised at how I'll prepared the worlds Governments are concerning this isuue. Most do not have adequate amounts of vaccine on hand to vaccinate their people. The US has vaccinated all its Government personal, Hospital personnel and its military for Small Pox, I am certain others countries have taken this same precaution. But what about the average people in these countries have they been vaccinated again or for the first time?

The answer is no, accept for those who have some knowledge of this issue or those who work with     Bio hazardous materials. While asking  people to stay home is a good idea in theory, it is only practical up to a point, considering that once a person is infected that they will be contagious for 30 days or more, how many people will comply for that long? if a bioterrorism attack occurs anywhere in the world, the vector will be Small Pox or Anthrax, hopefully we don't see happen. 

Thanks again for your thoughts on this subject.

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Manwon Lender

[spartan max2]

14 hours ago, RoofGardener said:

I'd agree with most of the above. However, smallpox is a very difficult virus to weaponise. There are only 2 or 3 stocks of it left in the world, all in heavily guarded laboratories. It would be very difficult for a terrorist to get hold of of a sample. They would then have to grow the virus to make enough for multiple large-scale attacks. 

Once the virus is in the wild, it is relatively easy to prevent it spreading (or at least, to massively slow it down). Just ask people to stay at home, and do not have physical contact with anybody.

It is a nasty scenario, but not armageddon. 

The virus has already been weaponized by researchers for research purposes. They have been able to make it more contagious and resistance to vaccines.

CDC Atlanta Georgia, and Moscow are the two officially known places to have frozen small pox perserved.

However, Its speculated that it could of easily ended up in many other places. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

12 hours ago, DarkHunter said:

Actually getting a smallpox sample might not be a problem.  In 2004 a book on civil war medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico was found that had smallpox scabs held within an envelope within the book.  In 2014 6 vials of smallpox along with other pathogens were found in a cold storage room in a FDA laboratory at the National Institute of Health.  

Also in 2017 a team of Canadian scientists recreated an extinct horse pox virus from scratch to show that in theory a small lab with no specialist knowledge could recreate smallpox from scratch for about $100,000.

Luckily vaccines/antiviral treatments for smallpox are still being produced and atleast some of the vaccines/antiviral treatments can work after being exposed.  As long as the vaccine/antiviral treatment is received within three days of exposure it will prevent or severely lessen the severity in the vast majority of people, while 4 to 7 days after exposure will offer some protection and reduce severity to some extent. 

 

[Grim Reaper 6]

13 hours ago, DarkHunter said:

Actually getting a smallpox sample might not be a problem.  In 2004 a book on civil war medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico was found that had smallpox scabs held within an envelope within the book.  In 2014 6 vials of smallpox along with other pathogens were found in a cold storage room in a FDA laboratory at the National Institute of Health.  

Also in 2017 a team of Canadian scientists recreated an extinct horse pox virus from scratch to show that in theory a small lab with no specialist knowledge could recreate smallpox from scratch for about $100,000.

Luckily vaccines/antiviral treatments for smallpox are still being produced and atleast some of the vaccines/antiviral treatments can work after being exposed.  As long as the vaccine/antiviral treatment is received within three days of exposure it will prevent or severely lessen the severity in the vast majority of people, while 4 to 7 days after exposure will offer some protection and reduce severity to some extent. 

You are correct there are samples of Small Pox That were unknown until recently. But vaccines are useless once your infected, because they will not have the necessary time to build enough antibodies to stop the infection. However, your right there are antiviral treatments that will improve the survival rate. Unfortunately there may not be enough on hand, because of the numbers that may be involved and because Small Pox is considered an eradicated virus.

Being vaccinated in advance is the best solution, that is the purpose of this thread. I think bringing this to people's attention is important so that they can make a choice. I think most would be surprised that this could even be a possibility today.     

Thanks for your post.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Manwon Lender

[Grim Reaper 6]

22 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

The virus has already been weaponized by researchers for research purposes. They have been able to make it more contagious and resistance to vaccines.

CDC Atlanta Georgia, and Moscow are the two officially known places to have frozen small pox perserved.

However, Its speculated that it could of easily ended up in many other places. 

Thanks for input, you seem to have some knowledge of this subject. You are correct on all points above, like I have said getting vaccinated is more important that most people think. When you consider the fact that people are not aware of this issue, it only makes this problem worst. There is a relatively new vaccine that was developed around 15 years ago that is effective.

Thanks for your post.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Manwon Lender

[spartan max2]

11 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

Thanks for input, you seem to have some knowledge of this subject. You are correct on all points above, like I have said getting vaccinated is more important that most people think. When you consider the fact that people are not aware of this issue, it only makes this problem worst. There is a relatively new vaccine that was developed around 15 years ago that is effective.

Thanks for your post.

Thanks , years ago I took a course called intro to biomedical technology.

The first thing they had us do is buy and read a book all about smallpox's historical eradication and future potential for bioterrorism.(Wish I could remember the books name)

It stuck with me I guess lol.

[Grim Reaper 6]

43 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

 

Double post 

[DarkHunter]

2 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

You are correct there are samples of Small Pox That were unknown until recently. But vaccines are useless once your infected, because they will not have the necessary time to build enough antibodies to stop the infection. However, your right there are antiviral treatments that will improve the survival rate. Unfortunately there may not be enough on hand, because of the numbers that may be involved and because Small Pox is considered an eradicated virus.

Being vaccinated in advance is the best solution, that is the purpose of this thread. I think bringing this to people's attention is important so that they can make a choice. I think most would be surprised that this could even be a possibility today.     

Thanks for your post.

From the CDC itself

"Historically, the vaccine has been effective in preventing smallpox infection in 95% of those vaccinated. In addition, the vaccine was proven to prevent or substantially lessen infection when given within a few days after a person was exposed to the variola virus."

https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/vaccine-basics/index.html

[Grim Reaper 6]

10 minutes ago, DarkHunter said:

From the CDC itself

"Historically, the vaccine has been effective in preventing smallpox infection in 95% of those vaccinated. In addition, the vaccine was proven to prevent or substantially lessen infection when given within a few days after a person was exposed to the variola virus."

https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/vaccine-basics/index.html

 

Thanks for the update, but being exposed is not the same as being infected. This virus isn't airborne, you must come in contact with bodily fluids or the scabs of an infected person. Just being in a room with someone who is infected constitutes exposure. If that happens the right thing to do is get vaccinated. However  coming into direct contact with fluids or scabs of an infected person is no longer exposure, this constitutes being infected. 

Here the website for the World Health Organization it go's into more detail, remember that the WHO sets all the guide lines even for the CDC.

https://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/smallpox/18-ACVVR-Final.pdf

Take care

 

 

 

[aztek]

soviets have been vaccinating people against small pox since 50s,   you can tell if a person was vaccinated, they have a round scar about a size of a dime on their right shoulder. pretty much every person born in ussr has one,