http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoBbwoJMqy4
14/4/2013.
Should the last two remaining known
stocks of smallpox be destroyed?
This essay
serves to debate whether the last two remaining known stocks of smallpox should
be destroyed. The
Chinese were the first to discover and use a primitive form of vaccination
called variolation in 900AD.
It was Dr Edward Jenner, a British
physician, who discovered the smallpox vaccination in 1776 in its modern form
and proved to the scientific community that it worked (Public Health Service Historian
2011). The last case of small pox was in 1977 in Somalia. Today the last known
stocks of small pox (Variola) virus are locked up in the World Health
Organisation authorised repositories in Russia and United States. I was
intrigued by the question title but I could not decide which side of the
argument to follow. After reading a few articles I was sure that I supported
the suggestion that
the last two remaining known stocks of smallpox should not be destroyed. My readings were from Betsy McKay,
from The Wall Street Journal published on May 25th 2011; Edward
Hammond from the Third World Network published May 2011and Katie
Leslie from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published 27th January 2011.
The work of Edward Hammond, a consultant for Third World
Network, (a nongovernmental organisation) impressed me. According to Edward
Hammond several attempts have been made to destroy the small pox virus but without
success, because of the controversy it created. The United States agreed that
it would be best if the remaining samples of the virus were stored safely and scientists
continued to study them, in case of a future biological threat, and then
destroy them afterwards. The Russians emphasised that it was too dangerous to
dispose of the collections. The African Nations supported by the Middle East and
many other countries say that the safest option is to destroy the last
stockpile immediately. Furthermore Edward Hammond states that a decade ago
smallpox was declared eradicated globally, with the last case being in 1977 in
Somalia. The WHA authorised withholding of Vioriola virus stocks for essential
public health research for the new antiviral drugs. It is understood that this
is the proof of the availability of two compounds to treat variola infections.
At the moment there are two candidates for treatment of Small pox infection
-ST-246 and CMX001 proprietary compounds owned by the US pharmaceutical
companies Siga and Chimeric, respectively both have verified efficiency in a different
range of experience. If all this is successful there should be an effective Vioriola
virus vaccine should smallpox reappear.
According to the officials at Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta the centre’s security is so tight that they are quite
confident that the chances of the virus getting into the wrong hands are to no
avail. This also applies to Koltsovo, in Siberia.
The above mentioned evidence helped me choose my stance.
It is clear that these two countries mean no harm. The fact that they have
owned up to the world proves that they mean no harm to the world. This is
especially important given the possibility of potential use of smallpox in
biological warfare; it is not known if any nation is keeping undisclosed stocks
of the virus in order to develop biological weapons.
In my opinion if
stocks of the last smallpox virus are destroyed, researchers may not have
anything to work on while carrying out research. The virus should be stored in
case similar situations come up in the future. Samples of actual smallpox virus
are needed in order to develop an effective vaccine. This is especially
important given the possibility of potential use of smallpox in biological
warfare; it is not known if any nation is keeping secret undisclosed stocks of
the virus in order to develop biological weapons.
