Ball State University physiologist Jeffrey Clark says President Bush's plan to inoculate millions of Americans could take years to accomplish, leaving most of the U.S. population at risk.
In assessing the dangers to the public as a bioterror weapon, since smallpox no longer exists as a naturally occurring disease, Clark says about 30 percent of infected people would die if an attack occurred:
"It would be very difficult to detect until after people had been exposed. A possible scenario would to for terrorists deliver clothing containing the virus to a charitable organization or daycare centers. Symptoms would not appear until about 12 days after exposure.
"At first, it's like the flu - causing an under-the-weather feeling of fever, nausea, vomiting, headache and backache. Then severe abdominal pain and disorientation can set in as small, round sores erupt all over the skin. About 30 percent of those infected would die and survivors would be left with permanent scars."
Clark says smallpox was one of humanity's greatest scourges, killing hundreds of millions over the centuries. After a worldwide immunization program, the last naturally acquired case of smallpox was recorded in Somalia in 1977.
"For people who were vaccinated before the practice was discontinued in the U.S. in 1980, they would suffer from mild forms of disease. Therefore, nearly everyone younger than 28 years of age would be at risk of death or serious disfigurement. The infection would most like kill those the very old, inflected with HIV/AIDS or with compromised immune systems.
Clark has been a member of Ball State's Department of Physiology and Health Science since 1994. His expertise is in the areas of health education, human sexuality, HIV/AIDS education and community health education program evaluation. He currently serves as the director of the Smokefree Indiana project
RSS