I found this info re: the current state of the CDC's smallpox vaccine stores in the biowar preparedness section of a nursing site (www.nursingceu.com):

Link

Fair use/educational purposes:

"The Centers for Disease Control owns a small supply of smallpox vaccine that is stored in four cardboard boxes in the walk-in freezer of a pharmaceutical company in Pennsylvania. The company, Wyet-Ayerst Laboratories, manufactured fifteen million doses of smallpox vaccine over a period of five years some twenty-five to thirty years ago.(16) The CDC owns six to seven million doses of this production, a ridiculously insufficient amount to protect a population the size of the US. But even this may be an inflated figure and it has been reported that the vaccine has seriously deteriorated. Some people on whom it was tested have had serious and even fatal reactions. The antidote to these reactions has also deteriorated.(17) Such is our state of readiness."

Not reassuring, to say the least.

I read a post elsewhere today (think it was TB2K) that alleged the CDC had recently pulled similar info re: the condition of the vaccine from their website.

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

Answers

You're right, not very reassuring. And the smallpox jab I had 35 years ago won't do me much good today. ZP_, did you read the whole thing; did it say how long it takes to manufacture a batch? Is it a couple of years and if so, why? I hereby appoint you our Smallpox Information Disseminator (SID) from reputable sources (and this guy and his sources look fairly reputable, although I'm not so sure about the New Yorker, lol).

Thanks (I think).

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

Old Git:

SID, eh? I'll do my best :)

The article referenced above states that a crash program would produce vaccine (presumably enough for everyone in the U.S.) in 36 months. An addendum at the end of said article states that work was begun in 2000 on production of the vaccine, at the behest of the director of the CDC. 2002 is the target date.

Interestingly enough, my DW saw a program on Fox or CNN earlier this evening, the gist of which was that there would indeed be new stocks of vaccine sometime in 2002... newscast referenced the crash program begun last year.

Re: immunizations, or what's left of them... I've read in several places that old vaccinations confer little immunity, or that they will result in a less dire case of the disease if contracted.

Here is a link to more info than you most likely wish for re: smallpox from no less a source than JAMA... authoritative and exhaustive: Smallpox as a Biological Weapon - Medical and Public Health Management

Please take the time to read it. There are several similar articles available at the JAMA home page: JAMA Homepage ...covering anthrax, plague, botulinum toxin, and tularemia, all very in-depth and timely.

I'd appreciate it if someone could either link or post this article over on Dennis' TB2K... while I enjoy that board immensely I choose not to post, and the misinfo is getting fairly thick over there at times

I've read 'em all, and will be pulling the covers up quite tightly tonight, I assure you...

zipperpull

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

I know a fair bit about bubonic plague, gleaned from British history, especially Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year--a short book but full of interesting observations. I also know a little about the scourge of smallpox and the fear it engendered in people (I think I got most of that from Samuel Pepys' Diaries) and my history books. I remember when tuberculosis was still a problem and I well remember having scarlet fever at the age of six and having to be isolated in the midst of the Yorkshire Moors for six weeks.Lots of other deadly diseases were around when I was a child--my brother with rheumatic fever, others with diptheria. There's quite a list if I think hard. I was injected with botulinum toxin at one time, but that's another story.

On the beautifully tiled wall of a Victorian public restroom in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, as late as 1966 (and possibly still there) was a lettered tile which warned against spitting, because it spread "consumption."

I also know a lot about the state of health during the British Industrial Revolution and diseases encountered in the colonies, like India. I don't think I want to read any more about biochem warfare at the moment! TPTB are now working frantically to plug the holes and, generally speaking, there's not much we can do to help them. All we can do is be aware of the risks, keep abreast of any outbreaks, try not to panic (a fine line) and take whatever precautions we can within our means.

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

Git, the book I'm currently buried in - Armies of Pestilence (because it is so badly written and will take me forever to finish, but full of info I can't find elsewhere) says that Defoe was presumably writing from firsthand experience, but that he could only have been about six when the plague was active, although it didn't discount the general accuracy of what he had written.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

just wanted to thank you all for the information that you bring here. With this slow modem I am on now, and it looks to be a month more and maybe longer, I find that even with graphics disabled it takes forever to load news pages, and going to ezboard is a test of patience.

Even with my ADSL [which I miss terribly~!] TB2K was slow. I haven't even tried to go there on this modem connection.

I don't know how anyone can stand this speed. Currently 57.6 but I don't believe it. Feels like 14.4.

Thanks again all!

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Barefoot, "a month or longer" because that's how long you anticipate it will be before your place is fixed up again? Hope the pooches are behaving themselves as granny's.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Brooks, the blurb on the book explains that Defoe got the info from his uncles and other older relatives. He also was able to access public records for the statistics. I don't know how old Defoe was when he wrote it; I should have to find the book. (Ha! When I have a day spare. Do you know how many books Sweetie and I have between us?) I read it ages ago so you know it made a hell of an impression. Actually, I think it made such an impression because early AIDS news was all over the place and the comparisons were troubling, vis-a-vis public reaction and misinformation.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

yes Brooke, and the pooches and Miss Piggy are quite content with mawmaw and pops. LOL

Miss Piggy runs from me now, since I am the visitor there. the little bitch! after all I did for her, too!

The boys are really into the walks with pops, and Mad Max [the hairy pig dog] is working off all that extra weight.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001