Neglected vials of smallpox found at NIH in Md.

July 8, 2014
Zaina Kahuk
News Writer
Headlines

Scientists last week discovered several vials of smallpox in an unused storage room at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Smallpox is one of the deadliest diseases known to man. he vials of smallpox, which apparently date from the 1950s, were “immediately secured” in a CDC containment lab and they pose no threat to either NIH employees or the public. A government aircraft took the smallpox vials to CDC’s high-containment facility in Atlanta. Overnight genetic testing in a top-security lab confirmed the vials did contain smallpox, but CDC officials need to do additional tests to find out whether the smallpox is viable or able to reproduce and spread. Testing could take up to two weeks. CDC scientists will then destroy the smallpox samples after testing is done.