Smallpox. Why all the fuss?

My latest assignment requires me to discuss the arguments surrounding the stocks of smallpox virus that are being kept. After researching and highlighting points from both sides of the debate, I am then asked to state my position as to whether I believe the stocks should continue to be kept or if they should be destroyed. I will be using this blog to show my findings.

For a long time now there have been continuous debates between the countries of the world as to whether the live stocks of smallpox should continue to be kept. The World Health Organisation (2013) (WHO) states that there are two known laboratories in the world that are currently storing stocks, one is based in the US and the other in Russia, however there is belief that some governments may have undeclared stocks, this is a concern as they could be used as a powerful bioweapon. Since the eradication of smallpox in 1979 knowledge about the highly contagious disease has gradually taken a back seat, people seem to be oblivious to the severity and devastation that it can cause, ‘Smallpox has existed for at least 3,000 years and was one of the world’s most feared diseases’ (WHO 2013), it seems that as the generations go on less and less people actually know what smallpox is and the hold that it once had on the world.

 

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, 2013.Frequently asked questions and answers on smallpox.[online]Geneva: The World Health Organisation. Avaialble from: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/smallpox/faq/en/index.html#thenwhy [accessed 1 April 2013]