Smallpox
People get smallpox by inhaling droplets of saliva, which are full of virus, during face-to-face contact with an infected person.
Transmission
Current Problem
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is defending its stocks of smallpox in Atlanta. This stock of smallpox is being kept in Atlanta to try to make new more effective vaccine with less side effects.
National/Gobal Perspective
Pro.
Con.
Ethical Dilemma
-
Smallpox can spread if not handled propperly and safely.
-
Spreading of Smallpox can happen within minutes.
-
Improper methods of destruction can cause in another smallpox outbreak.
-
Can be used as a biological wepond.
-
Global supplies of a Smallpox vaccince are limited.
Impacts on Environment and Society
-
Testing can be done to try to prevent any other smallpox outbrakes around the world
-
Vaccine can be tested on its efficiency to try to make it better or stronger.
-
Information current scientists have might not be complete and new things can be found.
-
Forgotten stocks of smallpox might still be out there along with all of smallpox's genomic information meaning that if a similar form of smallpox occured, a back up plan would be needed.
Smallpox has no current impact on the environment but it could cause an imaginable stir up if it ever were to leave the air tight confinements. Smallpox can be used for various things. One of the biggest ways it could impact the environment is if it’s used in bombs as a form of biological weapon. This would cause people to drop dead at alarmingly high rates just as it happened in the 20th century. More dead bodies would be buried as the days went by. The natural habitats of animals would also be endangered. The demands for Vaccination supplies needed would be at am all time high also damaging the earth’s resources.
WHO; World Health Organization is trying to reach a consensus on the topic of smallpox and whether or not all stocks of smallpox should be destroyed for good. This would mean the total eradication of smallpox. However smallpox's genomic information is still out there and it is possible to reconstruct a viruses very similar to smallpox. If smallpox is destroyed there will be no other way of testing new more effective vaccines in the case that a biological war was to happen. On the other hand keeping smallpox increases the risk of outbreaks if it is not handled properly.
Should all known stocks of the Smallpox virus be distroyed or should The United States and Russia keep there stock or smallpox?