Number: RL31694
Title: Smallpox Vaccine Stockpile and Vaccination Policy
Authors: Judith A. Johnson, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: The terrorist attacks of the fall of 2001 resulted in increased attention to preparedness for other such possible event, one being the deliberate release of variola virus, the virus which causes smallpox. Although there is little uneasiness over the safety of the only known samples of variola virus, held by the CDC in Atlanta and a laboratory near Novosibirsk in Russia, there is some concern that samples of the virus may have been acquired by terrorists or rogue governments, particularly because of the unrest that occurred during the break up of the Soviet Union.
Pages: 13
Date: Updated January 9, 2003