Smallpox Vaccine - Eradication

Eradication

By 1977, smallpox, long considered to be the most deadly and persistent human pathogenic disease, was eradicated by the World Health Organization. This was accomplished through a massive, worldwide outbreak search and vaccination program. However, the variola virus was not completely exterminated with the disease it caused. Three known repositories of the virus were left, one in Birmingham, England which was later destroyed after an accidental escape from containment caused the death of Janet Parker, and two still remaining at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia and the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology (VECTOR) in Koltsovo, Russia. Each of those States reports that the repositories are retained for possible anti-bio-weaponry research and against the possibility that some obscure reservoir of natural smallpox may be discovered in the future.

It is important from the perspective of bioterrorism to note that some countries, including North Korea, did not participate in the WHO eradication program, choosing instead to mount their own program. There is no information to suggest that these countries did or did not retain samples of the virus.