The world's last known smallpox virus samples will not be destroyed, for now

**Jenna** · 05-17-11, 03:08 PM

One of the world's deadliest diseases has gotten a reprieve, as the U.S. and Russia have decided to hang on to their stockpiles of smallpox virus. They're doing so in part out of fears that smallpox could be used by terrorists - in which case having the virus on hand might speed development of treatments for the dreaded illness.
"We fully agree that these samples should - and eventually will - be destroyed," Secretary of Health and Human services Katherine Sibelius wrote in a recent op-ed in the International Herald Tribune. "However, we also recognize that the timing of this destruction will determine whether we continue to live with the risk of the disease re-emerging through deliberate misuse of the virus by others."
Sibelius said that U.S. and Russian stockpiles would remain in place for at least another five years, when the World Health Organization - which has been debating destruction of the virus - could again review the situation.
In addition to the WHO's supply, 451 samples of smallpox virus are being held by the CDC, and 120 are stored in a remote Siberian town in Russia, according to CNN.

More here: Smallpox stockpile won't be destroyed soon, U.S. says: Why not? - HealthPop - CBS News