Is it finally time to eliminate the remaining stocks of variola (smallpox) virus for good? The World Health Assembly will discuss the current status on May 27. The World Health Assembly in 1996 set a date for virus destruction, but in subsequent resolutions the destruction of the virus has been postponed repeatedly to provide opportunities for research on the deadly virus to develop new countermeasures. There has been a decades-long debate on whether to eliminate the virus.
Smallpox killed or maimed millions of people over centuries as one of the deadliest scourges ever. It was formally declared eradicated by the World Health Assembly in 1980. The elimination of smallpox from the human population proved to be one of the greatest public health triumphs.
Where Is Smallpox Now?
Laboratories across the world were asked to submit any remaining virus samples to two central repositories—one at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the other at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, Koltsova, Russia. Except for the samples that have been used specifically for research purposes, the remaining virus stocks have been kept in suspended animation in a deep freeze—awaiting destruction for decades.
Should the smallpox virus stocks be destroyed? There remain reasonable arguments on both sides of this question.