ASSESSING THE FUTURE TERRORIST THREAT

SMALLPOX

Smallpox is easily diagnosed, according to Dr. Stanley Foster of Emory University, and isn't contagious until just before symptoms begin to show up, which is likely days after exposure. 

Foster says there is a good chance that those who have ever been inoculated against smallpox still have protection against dying of the disease, though such inoculation may not protect against symptoms. But there is little hope for a vaccine to be used against smallpox after one has caught it; the best treatment is prevention.

The US hasn't had a smallpox case since 1949; it was considered eradicated worldwide by 1977. Foster was among those who treated smallpox cases in Africa in the waning days of the infection.

Smallpox victims rarely infect more than two other people, as documented by doctors over generations.         

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-- Mike Shiloh from various sources

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