Smallpox From The Past

An anonymous reader submits "Earlier this year, librarian Susanne Caro was looking through an 1888 book on United States Civil War medicine and discovered a small envelope labeled 'scabs from vaccination of W.B. Yarrington's children' and signed by Dr. W.D. Kelly, the author of the book. After a bit of research, she realized they might be smallpox scabs used in early live vaccination methods and contacted various officials including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC was excited by the find, because it gives them an untreated specimen from over a century ago, and a chance to look at the disease's evolution. Although the FBI had concerns that the smallpox may have been planted in the book, most of the researchers believe the scabs are too old to be dangerous, and they fear they may not even be able to yield live smallpox."

Comments

Interesting

[shawnywany]

Sounds creepily like the beginning of a Robin Cook novel...

uhh

[nomadic]

Ok, the FBI thinks someone planted smallpox, in an envelope LABELLED with biohazard information, in a 19th century book, in Santa Fe. What the hell is wrong with them? I mean, that's just moronic.

Re:uhh

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, they were worried the story was
a hoax by someone who wanted to create fear
and panic.

As you might recall, after the US was hit with
a bioweapons attack (resulting in numerous
deaths, and the shut down of the U.S. Senate
offices), it become popular for people to
"copy cat" the weapon. Soon, people were
sending packets of white talc power in the
mail with threatening notes, all in hopes of
causing a panic and shutting down a business
for a few days.

As we've gotten used to this sort of ruse,
and developed technologies to detect anthrax
spores, the people trying to spread panic have
gotten more clever.

Consider, for example, how hard it would be to
create panic by sending a note through the mail
claiming that the envelope contained small
pox. Since small pox is tightly controlled,
and highly infectious, it's unlikely a group
(other than a government) has a sample of the
virus. So the hoax would quickly unravel.

A clever person who wanted to create a plausible
story about how a small pox virus came to be
found in a public space might have to work
harder. For example, they could make up a
story about old medical samples, museum equipment,
etc.

And so in this case, it's entirely reasonable
for the FBI to question the origin of this
envelope. No, I don't think they started
out by saying "This was planted by Al Queda."
Instead, they started with a skeptical
line of questions: who had the book? was it
ever check out before? where was it kept?
who had access to this text? is the person
claiming to make the find a real librarian?
etc.

I think in this case, you, my friend, are the
one who jumped to conclusions about the
conduct of the FBI. Indeed, it would seem
that your post exhibits the sort of haste
and rush-to-judgement that you seek to
condemn.

Re:uhh

[mabu]

Actually, they were worried the story was
a hoax by someone who wanted to create fear
and panic.

In addition to "Fair and Balanced", I believe Fox News has "Fear and Panic" copyrighted. Watch yourself or you could get sued.

fear?

[Anonymous Coward]

they fear they may not even be able to yield live smallpox

is this a bad thing?? I'd feel better knowing that no remnants of the virus were able to survive that long.

scabs

[Graspee_Leemoor]

About the only time you will find scabs in a book and be excited about it. Mostly you'd say "Ok, I'm only going to buy NEW from now on".

graspee

Re:scabs

[svanstrom]

About the only time you will find scabs in a book and be excited about it. Mostly you'd say "Ok, I'm only going to buy NEW from now on".

Anthrax in envelopes you didn't expect is one thing, although not easily avoided you can minimize the risks in such situations; but picture terrorists selling things with anthrax in them on sites such as ebay and amazon.com.

They might not be able to target the people they want, but they could reach 1'000's of people and completely ruin the business of selling used things online.

Suddenly anyone could be a target of a terroristattack...

Re:scabs

[timepilot]

Yeah but they would get some hairy negative feedback.

Re:scabs

[Anonymous Coward]

"Horrible eBayer, gave my whole family smallpox, DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Watch those libraries!!

[Fruny]

One more reason to have the government tightly control what books you check out.
Libraries are a breeding ground for terrorists, I tell you.

What Could Happen

[hao2lian]

Hey, are these raisins? *munch*

In a freezer?

[InfiniteWisdom]

From the article:
the envelope rests in a freezer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, awaiting a battery of tests.

Yes, after lying in a library book for 115 years I can see why is important that it be frozen now.

It's like a time capsule

[mcc]

What a wonderful idea for a time capsule that would be. Create a time capsule to be opened in hundreds or thousands of years and place in it some of the diseases which may have died off by then and which the generations of the future will not have had the chance to enjoy.

Infectious disease: The gift that keeps on giving.

Virus are on Border of living and Dead Matter ...

[leoaugust]

1. virus -- ((virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein)

In viruses, which represent the border between living and dead matter, there are simpler aggregates between nucleic acids and proteins. A virus can be said to be genetic material without a cell of its own, and the structure of viruses can provide clues to the more complicated organisation of the hereditary material in higher organisms.

Virus represent the border between living and dead matter. I thought that it meant that when the virus came across a host cell it could inject its DNA and multiply and that is why it is living , and when it didn't it just lay dormant i.e. it was dead matter. Wasn't the whole premise of Jurrasic Park based on this notion ?

But in the article it says ....

Several years ago in Kentucky, she said, a construction crew unearthed a metal coffin containing the mummified corpse of an apparent smallpox victim that researchers traced to the mid-1800s. The CDC checked the tissue for live virus and came up empty.

There's also a slim chance, researchers say, that the scabs could yield live smallpox virus -- believed to reside in only two laboratories in the world -- and provide valuable information on the deadly plague.

If the virus is nothing but the DNA and a protein coating around it, why are the people wanting it to be live ?

Am I missing something ? What am I missing ?

WHO Spoke too Soon?

[Mikkeles]

I guess the World Health Organization's crowing about smallpox eradication was a bit too early!

Re:Virus are on Border of living and Dead Matter .

[Slowping]

If the virus is nothing but the DNA and a protein coating around it, why are the people wanting it to be live ?

Am I missing something ? What am I missing ?


They are probably referring to whether or not the DNA information is sufficiently in-tact. If the DNA is too far destroyed, the virus probably won't be able to reproduce itself even after infecting a live cell.

"Live" virus

[porkchop_d_clown]

In this context, "live" virus is able to infect and reproduce. "Killed" virus has been damaged to the point that it cannot infect a cell. Hence the concern over using "live" virus vaccines - the vaccines use a damaged or weakened virus that the body can easily defeat - but occasionally a few full strength particles get through and trigger the disease instead of vaccinating against it. "Killed" virus vaccines use fragments of destroyed viruses, ensuring you can't get sick from them, but possibly not as effective as the live kind.

Misleading statement in article

[mesocyclone]

There's also a slim chance, researchers say, that the scabs could yield live smallpox virus -- believed to reside in only two laboratories in the world

Only the naive believe that live smallpox exists in only two labs in the world. A more accurate statement in the article would have been "only legally allowed in two labs in the world."

There is strong reason to believe that North Korea has the virus. France is also believed to have it. Iraq may have had it up until recently, as it was endemic in the region in the late sixties, and just a few scabs in a refrigerator would have been enough. It used to be common practice for scientists and doctors to keep a bit of smallpox in the fridge when they gathered it from patients. Hence there could be samples, possibly not even labelled or known to the owners, in a number of places in the world.

One reason that the plan to destroy all stocks at the CDC and the official Russian lab was the realization that rogue countries probably had the virus, and hence destroying it would damage future defense attempts.

Furthermore, the USSR and later Russia maintained stockpiles of 20 tons of weaponized smallpox in the eighties (authorized by Gorbachev) and probably to the present, and loaded it into missile warheads. Furthermore, a number of their scientists have since emigrated to other countries. In 1994 a number visited North Korea for unknown reasons. One former Soviet BW officieal entered into a deal with Iraq to sell 5000 liter fermenters.

And then we have accidental discoveries like these scabs. Smallpox can survive in scabs for a long time, although >100 years is stretching it.

Homeland Security Issues Alert

[moehoward]

Tom Ridge will claim that we now need to ban books in order to be more "secure".

The FBI needs to get a life if they were at all concerned about this. How embarassing. Morons. Everything is "terrorism" until proven otherwise. My god.

Re:Bioweapons will be used in WWIII (2006-)

[mesocyclone]

It's a widely believed fact that bioweapons and extensive use of tactical nuclear weapons will be used in WWIII that is due to begin in 2006-2007.
Russia, China and the Arabs will unite. New York will be devastated by two small nuclear devices and while USA isolates itself to deal with the trauma, China invades Asia and Russia pushes into Western Europe.

Could you pin down the dates a little more, old chap? I need to get my planning in order and know when to go hide.

Thanks!

From strength to strength

[Doc Ruby]

Don't worry, this is the FBI which has made short shrift of Osama bin Laden, singlehandedly captured Saddam Hussein, cornered the Anthrax Mailer, cleverly foiled the 9/11 planebombings on advance intelligence, have kept Chinese industrial spies away from our tech secrets, has won the drug war, busted the thieves at Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Arthur Anderson, and the rest. They found the malicious Bush leaker who blew CIA agent Plames cover in Niger, discredited the 16 State of the Union words about the imaginary African uranium bound for Iraq, preempted Iranian and North Korean nuclear bombs. They nabbed the 2000 election vote riggers, and are already jailing the criminals at the top of the 2004 eVote insecurity debacles. If they think something is scary, we should all bow our heads in fear, and double their budget again. If it were possible to promote the FBI chief, we would; instead, we'll just have to settle for the Patriot Act, which dissolves that archaic Bill of Rights which was just getting in the way.

Re:From strength to strength

[Doc Ruby]

With the Democratic primaries yet to get underway, there's no way to be sure which of the Democrat/Republican candidates will more likely "clean house". It's a pretty safe bet that it won't be Bush, who offers the worst governance here since George III (ironic). I already detailed some obvious, compelling government incompetence in my original post. I leave it to the candidates to pitch their vision of better governance, and the voters to decide which candidate to take up on their offer. As we write these words, you and I are engaging a fraction of the voters, however small. That kind of citizen activity is our privilege and duty. Shirking it is a luxury we cannot afford, exceeding it is not necessary when widely applied. This is the peer-to-peer model of unity that revolutionized government when installed in the late 1700s, and has kept us going for centuries since

If we were to upgrade the US government, I'd keep the entire basic framework, of course. The problems we have now are mainly the result of the last few generations gaming the system, perverting small holes in the execution of the system into giant power abuses. If you're really listening, I'll hit a few highlights of my patches.

Proportional voting. Or "instant runoffs" - instead of choosing only one candidate, and valuing the rest equally as "loser", we sort the candidates by preference. The one whose combined total is highest is the one best representing the voters. Lazy voters can just choose their top 2, 3 or 5. When proportional voting is underway, we can open the ballots to anyone meeting a minimum petition requirement for seriousness, like 5% of the registered voters in the voting district.

Immediately drop the electoral college in favor of total popular vote percentage across the country, as it's an implementation artifact from centuries ago, when travel and communication was much cruder. Likewise the single Election Day, giving a floating day off work to anyone claiming it in an election November. Hell, if that isn't enough, let's study the cost/benefits of requiring best 2 out of 3 elections, across a month or two, with all results kept secret until the third was complete. Just to get a meaningful sample into the statistical model of "the will of the people", that we call an election.

While we're at it, set the income of every elected official at the *median* (50/50% of population) salary in their constituency. With a pension at the upper 10% of that constituency. And no other income allowed, with annual audits. Encourage politicians to do it for more than the money, while guaranteeing them financial rewards, and an incentive to retire. With an additional incentive to long-range plan for the incomes of that constituency, to which their income will be directly tied.

Still talking about auditing politicians, make the Office of Special Prosecutor *permanent*, hired/fired by the Supreme Court, with jurisdiction over the other two bodies. Let's give Congress a permanent Judicial Reform committee with Supreme Court oversight. Enough of this crap where President appoints whichever selfserving Attorney General he wants to run the Justice Department, usurping the Judicial Branch. That con should have died with Nixon's Saturday Night massacre, when a succession of AGs resigned rather than supress Watergate, until a compliant Robert Bork sucked up the sleaze (and was almost installed on the Supreme Court for life by Reagan 10 years later).

Getting really "libertarian", let's require every candidate to submit their "promises" in writing, before the election. Every candidate seeking a possibly budget-proposing office would have to submit their budget *before* the election. Let's give Tax Day and Election Day (or Month) the same deadline. With tax forms & guides published in the same volumes as the candidates' proposals and sample ballots, submitted at the same time by citizens. Class action suits against lying politicians would be much easi

Captain Obvious strikes again!

[mabu]

the FBI had concerns that the smallpox may have been planted in the book

In a related story, the authorities are now scouring libraries coast to coast to find the book entitled, "Where I Am Hiding" by Osama Bin Laden.

Re:Virus are on Border of living and Dead Matter .

[Yunalesca]

First, I think if they can get any DNA out of it, that would be nice. If they mostly (at least supposedly) want to study the evolution of the virus, I'm sure they can garner some information just by comparing the DNA sequence of whatever they pull out, vs. the "current" stock. Of course it's always best to get the whole genome, but there will almost always be highly conserved (having a very low mutation rate) DNA regions. In organisms with large genomes, you can often compare those against each other to study the amount of divergence.

Second ...

"This could lead to a greater evolutionary understanding of the smallpox vaccine we're using in the U.S.,"

Hm ... I'm slightly confused. If the latest vaccine used was cowpox-based, are they trying to study the similarities between now-cowpox and then-smallpox? I can see them wanting to understand how a virus has evolved, but I don't see what exactly comparing it to cowpox would do. Perhaps they want to study how the two have diverged. Any thoughts?

Probably not smallpox virus anyway

[KFW]

AIAAD (Actually, I am a doctor). In fact, my specialty is Infectious Diseases.

By 1888 vaccination against smallpox using cowpox or vaccinia virus was a common practice, as opposed to "variolization" (inoculation with actual smallpox virus, aka variola virus), since the former was so much safer. This is touched on only briefly in the Washington Post article. So even if there is viable virus in the scab, it may not be smallpox. For reference see the first part of this chapter.

>K