US health officials are rushing to make sense of a startling discovery in a Philadelphia suburb on Tuesday: more than a dozen vials labeled “smallpox” and a close relative of the virus, “vaccinia.” The deadly virus was eradicated in the 20th century after killing more than 300 million people.
Leadership at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received a nightmare message on Tuesday night alerting them that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had uncovered 15 vials in a storage freezer in eastern Pennsylvania: five were labeled “smallpox” and 10 were labeled “vaccinia,” according to Yahoo News, which viewed the alert.
The discovery prompted a lockdown of the facility, which is owned by pharmaceutical giant Merck and is located in North Wales, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, local news reported.
“There is no indication that anyone has been exposed to the small number of frozen vials,” the CDC told CNN in a statement.”
The frozen vials labeled ‘Smallpox’ were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania. CDC, its Administration partners, and law enforcement are investigating the matter and the vials’ contents appear intact,” the federal health agency added. “The laboratory worker who discovered the vials was wearing gloves and a face mask. We will provide further details as they are available.”
Smallpox, also called variola, is one of the deadliest epidemic diseases known to man. The virus, which spreads either by inhaling infected droplets or by handling infected materials, kills up to 30% of the people who get it. Those who live often bear scars across their bodies caused by the pus-filled bubbles that grow on the skin, and many can also suffer blindness.
http://globalreportage.org/2021/11/21/dc-workers-find-mysterious-smallpox-vials-in-pennsylvania-storage-freezer/
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