[spetznaz]

That sounds interesting. Book/article title(s) to recommend?

For starters have a look at the following link:

The Demon in the Freezer: SmallPox

[newsworthy]

Thanks for the link: quite a read (not recommended for dinnertime reading). I was particularly struck by the irony in that it was the scientific triumph of smallpox "eradication" that set us up for the use of smallpox as a devastating bioweapon.

The U.S. govt. has made strides in vaccine acquisition since that article was published. From the CDC Emergency Preparedness pages:

Currently, the United States has a big enough stockpile of smallpox vaccine to vaccinate everyone in the United States in the event of a smallpox emergency.

This is not especially comforting when you take into account that a large percentage of the population is ineligible for vaccine and given also (per the New Yorker article) that near-universal levels of vaccination are not necessarily proof against extensive outbreaks.

I'll feel more secure when (if) they develop an effective treatment.