Janet Parker - Shooter Report

Shooter Report

The declassified official Report of the investigation into the cause of the 1978 Birmingham smallpox occurrence (Shooter report) noted that Bedson failed to inform the authorities of changes in his research that could have affected safety. Shooter discovered that the Dangerous Pathogens Advisory Group inspected the laboratory on two occasions and each time recommended that the smallpox research be continued there, despite the fact that the facilities at the laboratory fell far short of those required by law. Several of the staff at the laboratory had received no special training. Bedson even allowed a school-leaver to work with smallpox after only nine months as a trainee technician. Inspectors from the World Health Organisation had told Bedson that the physical facilities at the laboratory did not meet WHO standards, but had nonetheless only recommended a few changes in laboratory procedure. Bedson lied to the WHO about the volume of work handled by the laboratory, telling them that it had progressively declined since 1973, when in fact it had risen dramatically as Bedson desperately tried to finish his work before the laboratory closed. Janet Parker had not been vaccinated recently enough to protect her against smallpox.

The report concluded that Parker had probably been infected by a strain of smallpox called Abid (named after one of its earlier victims, a three-year-old Pakistani boy), which was being handled in the smallpox laboratory during July 24–25, 1978. The virus had travelled in air currents up a service duct from the laboratory below, to a room in the Anatomy Department that was used for telephone calls. On July 25, Parker had spent much more time there than usual ordering photographic materials because the financial year was about to end.