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World Health Organization

New edict: Save smallpox samples

Vaccine research need spurs reversal of order to raze supply of virus

By CLARE NULLIS

Associated Press

GENEVA -- Acting on fears of bioterrorism, the World Health Organization's governing body Thursday reversed a long-standing order for the destruction of all smallpox virus stocks and recommended they be retained for research into new vaccines or treatment.

The U.N. health agency's 32-member executive board endorsed a recommendation by WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland to drop a 2002 deadline for destroying the virus, held at top security laboratories in the United States and Russia.

It set no new target for destroying the stocks, saying only that a report on the progress of research should be drawn up in two to three years.

Kenneth Bernard, an assistant U.S. surgeon general, told the meeting that research into improved vaccines was vital since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the subsequent anthrax scare. The risk of the highly contagious virus being used as a bioterrorism weapon can no longer be considered remote, he said.

"We regard the potential release of smallpox as a critical national and international security issue," he said. "We all know the impact of such an event would be devastating for everyone."

The Russian delegation echoed that view, saying more research is needed to create vaccines against new forms of the virus, including one produced through gene technology.

Smallpox used to kill 3 million to 4 million people per year and left millions more hideously scarred and blind. It was declared eradicated in 1979 after a massive WHO-spearheaded campaign.

Virus samples were placed in two secure laboratories at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and a similar Russian facility in Siberia.

In 1996, WHO set a target of mid-1999 for destruction of the virus. But after U.S. and Russian resistance, it extended the deadline to "not later than 2002." This will now be dropped if the executive board's recommendation is adopted - as expected - by the full World Health Assembly in May.

Countries such as Japan, which had previously taken the lead in pushing for destruction of the virus, voiced support for the U.S. position in Thursday's debate.

China was the lone dissenting voice but was not able to block the consensus as it is currently not a member of the executive board.

"We believe early eradication of the virus stocks is the only fundamental guarantee of the eradication of smallpox," Chinese ambassador Sha Zukang said.

"No one can guarantee that the stocks won't be released. If that were to happen, mankind would be faced with a most devastating biological catastrophe."