U.S. Suspects 4 Nations Have Smallpox

— -- U.S. Suspects Four Nations Possess SmallPox

W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 5 — U.S. intelligence believes four nations otherthan the United States — Iraq, North Korea, Russia and France — probably possess samples of the smallpox virus, a U.S. officialsaid.

Al Qaeda is also believed to have sought samples of smallpox forweaponization, but U.S. officials don't believe the terror networkis capable of mounting an attack with smallpox. Evidence recoveredin Afghanistan pointed to Osama bin Laden's interest in thedisease, the U.S. official said Monday, speaking on condition ofanonymity.

U.S. officials worry that Iraq and North Korea could developpotent biological weapons with their samples, and lax security inRussia could allow other nations to obtain the deadly disease foruse as a weapon.

The fears that smallpox, declared eradicated in 1980, couldagain be loose on the world have driven the Bush administration toconsider vaccinations for the American populace and to prepareemergency plans should an outbreak be detected.

Smallpox historically has killed about a third of its victimsand can be transmitted from person to person, unlike otherbiological weapons such as anthrax.

Many experts suspected North Korea had samples of the smallpoxvirus. A Russian intelligence report made public in 1993 accusedPyongyang of having a smallpox weapon, though that has not beenpublicly corroborated.

A declassified U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report from May1994 also quotes an unnamed source saying Russian scientists gaveNorth Korea smallpox samples.

Before 1998, U.N. weapons inspectors discovered limited evidenceof a smallpox program in Iraq. They found a machine labeled"smallpox" and Iraq is experimenting with a related virus thatinfects camels.

Russia acknowledges having samples of the virus, as does theUnited States. But Ken Alibek, a former top scientist in the Sovietbiological weapons program who came to the United States in 1992,claimed the Soviets covertly developed smallpox as a weapon in the1980s.

The Washington Post, which first reported the intelligencefinding in today's editions, said France's samples are believedto be for defensive research programs aimed at limiting casualtiesfrom a smallpox outbreak.

Routine smallpox vaccinations ended in the United States in1972, and experts believe that those last vaccinated more thanthree decades ago have little residual immunity remaining. OnlyRussia and the United States overtly kept samples of the virus.

But the decision to offer the vaccine is a difficult one becausethe vaccine itself can be dangerous. It is made with a live viruscalled vaccinia that can cause serious damage both to peoplevaccinated and to those with whom they come into close contact.