Certainly hope so, but...

• The corpses of smallpox victims earlier this century in Siberia were buried in shallow graves in the permafrost, where they have been remarkably well preserved. Could they still harbour the virus ???

• Development at the Rietfontein Infectious Diseases Hospital in Johannesburg might expose the corpses of hundreds of smallpox victims buried there. How many other sites are there around the world where this might happen?

• Smallpox was always a favourite of the germ warfare industry, because of its virulence and the ease which armies could be vaccinated against it. The virus can be propagated easily in tissue culture, much more easily than building a nuclear bomb. How many terrorist groups or foreign dictators have the capacity to do this?

• The U.S. and Russian governments have promised that all virus stocks will eventually be destroyed. And we trust them. Don't we ?

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