The India 1 strain of Smallpox which the Soviets weaponised causes the haemorraghic form of the disease. Its mortality rate is more like 70%. If al-Qaeda have a stock of Smallpox they are most likely to have this strain.
The aerosolized smallpox virus which caused the 1971 outbreak in the Soviet Union (go here for background info) was vaccine-resistant and highly virulent. If Saddam or al Qaeda hit us with smallpox, the strain they use may be similar to the Soviet strain. What good would it do to vaccinate everyone and then be attacked with a vaccine-resistant strain? Talk about wasted tax dollars!
Of course, the only people who died in that outbreak (3) were the ones who had not been vaccinated. They all contracted the highly lethal form -- hemorrhagic smallpox.
But still, the feds probably think our bio-dollar$ are better spent toward working fast & furiously toward a new treatment alternative. If you'll go read the link above, you can read the Senate testimony on how we now have an animal model for antibiotic treatment that looks promising.
And Dales, you were dead on about the socioeconomic implications if the vaccinations were made available on a "voluntarily" basis. What a nightmare that would be!
If anyone wants to see photos of hemorrhagic smallpox, click on the links below. I would post them here but I'm afraid I might make someone sick to their stomach if they're eating or something.
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/preston/cobraevent/smallpox4.html
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/preston/cobraevent/art/smallpox2.jpg
More info here: http://ccc.apgea.army.mil/reference_materials/textbook/HTML_Restricted/chapters/chapter_27.htm
