60 Minutes: Iraq Has Smallpox

Newsmax ^ | 10/8/01

[truthandlife]

60 Minutes reported Sunday night that Iraq has a strain of smallpox.

Smallpox is a deadly and highly contagious virus.

Only two countries were believed to have strains of the virus, the U.S. and Russia.

60 Minutes' Mike Wallace reported this evening that Saddam Hussein acquired some of the smallpox virus from a laboratory in Russia.

Russian scientists have also been helping countries like Iraq and Iran developed biological weapons.

[mykdsmom]

Can you ask your hubby a question for me?

One thing that I haven't seen addressed in all of this smalllpox talk is, are the people that had the smallpox vaccine when they were young still protected?

Just curious because my mom said that they all had the vaccine as children but by the time I was born they did away with it. She said the dr told her that hers never "took" because she didn't develop the classic scar.

Just curious.

MKM

[raygun]

Not to worry.

Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, hasn't come for the Saints to be taken up into the air in the first Second Coming. The false prophet and anti-Christ can't be revealed until this occurs. Also before this can occur, the Temple must be rebuilt. The Anti-Christ will then seat himself upon a throne therein and bestow the mark of the Beast to the world's population. This all occurs during the seven years of Tribulation that culuminates in what would only be certain destruction of all living things, if but for the second Second Coming of our Lord Jesus, casting the Beast into the bottemless pit, and to establish His Milleniall Kingdom on Earth.

Trust in the Lord, Jesus saves.

[donh]

There are about 40 million doses of vaccine stockpiled in the U.S. Quit freeking out.

50 million / 250 million = 1/5

All the politicans and their friends and associates need not panic, of course--possibly bad advice otherwise.

Good thing we've shelled out uncounted billions to the CIA, FEMA & CDC all these years, so we'd have taken such simple, cheap precautions against this all these years, eh?

Looking on from above, one would almost think we've spent all this money on agencies whose agenda is apparently other than what we paid them for, and who can't hardly wait for us to come running up to them to beg for help involving shredding the rest of the constitution in order to have a free hand in overseas countries that control oil and heroin spigots when our children are all dying of smallpox.

Thank goodness, at least they aren't libertarians.

[unixfox]

There are about 40 million doses of vaccine stockpiled in the U.S. Quit freeking out.

What about enough drugs to get rid of it once you have contracted it though?

[Billthedrill]

There is also considerable question in the mind of immunologists, as to whether or not those vaccinated against smallpox would maintain their immunity for so long without a booster.

The immunity is theoretically lifelong - smallpox vaccinations did not, under normal therapeutic practice, require a booster. However, typically viral immunity of that type fades with time as the proportion of antibodies in the immune system sensitive to that antigen goes down gradually. High doses of the virus, well beyond the disease threshold, may in fact overwhelm somebody whose immune system might otherwise be able to "ramp up" upon exposure - normal doses might do the same to an individual who is immune-challenged for some reason (drugs, other diseases - AIDS is only an extreme example). Hence it will differ from individual to individual based on time since inoculation, health, and degree of exposure.

I am not privy to current data on warfare-intended "hot" smallpox virii, but typically the difference is one of degree of virulence and not of mechanism. This is not necessarily true for bacterial agents, which may exchange large amounts of genetic data by themselves in vitro, much less at the hand of man - this is thought to be the means by which the otherwise harmless Escherichia coli bacterium has picked up enteropathogenic properties.

In short, if you have one of those little scars on the back of your shoulder, you're much safer than those without it, but still not necessarily safe, nor can you be vaccinated to a level that confers 100% immunity against all doses. Uh...have a nice day...

[Billthedrill]

Bill, you idiot, you meant in vivo. Jeezelouise...

[Martin Tell]

Smallpox vaccine protection lasts for about 10 years - so I was informed from a good "New Yorker" article (yes) a couple of years ago about the smallpox/bio-terror threat. I was vaccinated at birth and again for boy scout camp at age 12. 30 years later, I figure I need another. BTW, according to the "New Yorker" there were not nearly enough vaccine to go around. Maybe stockpiles have increased since then.

[Mojo-jo-jo]

"preferably by thermonuclear sterilization"

Yeah!!! Nukem till they glow! That way everybody wins!

I thought one of the immunizations that we all rcvd before age 5 or 6 was for smallpox, no? (The series of shots needed before you went to elementary/high school?)

[self_evident]

Drat! That post is in response to the one above yours. I'm sorry -- and a little cranky this morning. The solution to terror (IMHO) is to kill them where they are. I thought that having joined the battle would have calmed some peoples fears. You can't produce bioweapons without facilities. As of this morning, they have fewer facilities. My apologies.

[willyone]

You rally expect the same fuzzy thinking people who allowed us to get into this mess to deal with Iraq? Smallpox has been talked about for years with the fear that the virus in labs would be exploited. Even in the face of factual evidence that the Russians had produced tons of the stuff and that Iraq was also producing it nothing was done. The least they could have done was vacinate new borns. That is now necessary since temporary immunity is no longer passed on from the mother since they have not been vacinated either. Anyone who thinks we are in good hands better think again. Gov.Ridge will prove to be the latest in a long series of makework Czars that never accomplish anything except burn money. Just like the breakdown in airport security that allowed the WTC nightmare the same people in charge have dropped the ball on Smallpox and God only knows what else. We are being led by fools to whom the bottom line is all that matters. Smallpox is so easy to spread all that is necessary is terrorists who will willingly let themselves be infected and then walk among us. Enough virus to kill millions of us can be put in an eyedrop bottle. We better start praying that they are as dumb as we are.

[alethia]

Thanks for the response -- just as I thought.

[alethia]

Actually, they stopped smallpox vaccinations in 1980 -- well over 20 years ago. At least that was the case in Florida.

[willyone]

If you can find a cow with cow pox you may have a solution. Question is where do you find one? Or has that been eliminated with modern animal care?

[donh]

by the way, "supportive therapy" mostly means electrolytic replacement. Which you can't do yourself because you aren't a doc, and you don't have a prescription, and fat chance you'll get one when medical facilities are overtaxed.

You also can't get anti-biotics, because you don't have a prescription and fat chance you'll get one when medical facilites are overtaxed.

Thank goodness that not only is has your non-libertarian government failed to prepare for this obvious emergency, but government regulation has made it impossible for you to do anything about it either.

[alethia]

Some great answers further up this thread. I'm not sure I was comforted by the information -- but knowledge is power.

[willyone]

If it never took it was because she was one of the few who had natural immunity passed on from previous generations who were genetically resistant to the virus. I have been vacinnated numerous times and have never had a reaction. reason being that I was already resistant to it. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing comes of this.

[AmusedBystander]

Iraq Has Smallpox

Hopefully Irag will die from its infection and spare us the trouble of killing it.

[donh]

What about enough drugs to get rid of it once you have contracted it though?

No known treatment. CDC recommends antibiotics, but only as a prophilaxis against secondary infection. Fat chance you have any. A guy names Harris, I think, tried to warn us about this, and made some specific suggestions about trying prophilactic doses of animal anti-biotics, such as terramycin, as a prophilactic against all biological attacks. Much as it is presently used in the barnyard. Since you can't experment with human subjects, this information is largely unscientific, and out of favor with current medical practice. So Harris was arrested and shut down.

So, not only did our caretaker government fail to protect us, quarantee our inability to deal with the results of their failure, but they also did their best to prevent us from knowing how to cope even if we cared to. Thank God, at least they aren't libertarians--who knows what chaos that would cause. Thank god, at least we aren't governed by

[Snowy]

Drat! That post is in response to the one above yours. I'm sorry -- and a little cranky this morning. The solution to terror (IMHO) is to kill them where they are. I thought that having joined the battle would have calmed some peoples fears. You can't produce bioweapons without facilities. As of this morning, they have fewer facilities. My apologies.

No problem. :) I guess I'm edgy too. Agreeing with all the liberals on television has really freaked me out and has been a bit surreal the past few weeks. There has been no one to get made at. I even agreed with Gephardt! Everyone has been talking about the physical injury that terrorists can inflict, but has anyone mentioned the mental assault??!!!?!?? I mean, Tony Blair almost looked like a war monger! Has is everyone else dealing with these mental games? What long term harm is being inflicted? :)

[donh]

You can't produce bioweapons without facilities.

If you are willing to die, you can produce bio-weapons using petri-dishes and the aerosol sprayer in your garden shed. If that seems too troublesome, you can infect yourself from a beaker you could have kept viable in the fridge for years, and go ride around the country by greyhound until your symptoms become visible (and probably long after).

The bio-weapons have undoubtedly been stockpiled in this country, and have been ready to go for years. Sad to say, being willing to die makes up for having no significant investment in laboratory facilities for the purposes of bio-warfare.