R.G. Griffing, SAL Publisher"Only a few living physicians in the world have ever seen a case of smallpox, the last being in 1977 in Africa. The last US case was thirty years earlier."
San Antonio physician/educator/author Saul B. Wilen speaks earnestly about a problem he and his Texas based think tank have been working on for years. His brow furrows, as he attempts a rational explanation to a layman about a possible, maybe probable nightmare. His office is stacked with paper, journals, and ideas. I sit quietly.
He exudes calm, yet he paints a scenario that would scare the hell out of the devil.
"The smallpox virus is of particular alarm because it is easy to spread, is associated with a high death rate, 30%, and a high level of disability due to short and long term consequences. Historically smallpox is responsible for more deaths than any other infectious disease. It is the most feared agent that can be unleashed in a biological attack."
He offers me a second cup of coffee, as I scribble my notes.
"No thanks, gives me the jitters." I'm not talking about the coffee.
* * *
The cold pages of the Journal of the American Medical Association will tell you bluntly that smallpox was first used as a biological weapon during the French and Indian Wars (1754-1767) by English forces in North America.
Brit soldiers distributed blankets that had been used by smallpox patients to initiate outbreaks among American Indians.
It worked. It worked well. Epidemics killed up to 50% of the targeted tribes.
* * *
Fast forward to 1967. The World Health Organization (WHO) begins a global eradication program which ends with the announcement in 1977 that smallpox has been defeated.
So effective is the program that the World Health Assembly recommends that all countries cease vaccination in 1980.
A WHO expert committee recommends that all laboratories destroy their remaining stocks of research virus or transfer them to one of two WHO reference laboratories. The Institute of Virus Preparations in Moscow and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga. are chosen.
* * *
As of 1998 the US Census Bureau reported that in 1998, approximately 114 million persons, or 42% of the US population, were aged 29 years or younger. Never vaccinated.
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"Any confirmed case of smallpox in the world would be an international emergency. A single sneeze on an airliner could infect thousands of people within days to weeks. A third or more of them would die. There are no known treatments for smallpox. Doctors in the United States have virtually no experience with the diagnosis and treatment of smallpox."
Wilen says this in an understated tone. Yet behind his civility, one can sense a feeling of almost outrage, certainly concern, and absolute conviction.
"The vaccine is not presently being produced. Only a small stockpile exists. Though Congress has allocated the money, new supplies are at least one year away. The smallpox virus can be easily grown by terrorists. The vaccination complications are significant. All of our present immediate planning for combating smallpox is designed as a response to the emergency after it occurs. This is very important, but simultaneously we must look to prevention, education and communication preparedness. Without definitive prevention efforts we completely guarantee by default the use of CDC response plans to deal with an attack and the use of all of the emergency management and post attack recovery resources."
I feel myself needing a cigarette, but I stifle the urge. The Doctor doesn't like smoke.
Wilen is the CEO of International Horizons Unlimited, a national educational and resources consortium based in San Antonio, Texas. His background is in education and medicine. He has Nobel Prize winners and nominees on his roster. Dr. Wilen's specialties include internal and pulmonary medicine, critical care, and environmental health. He is a recognized authority in systems dynamics and informatics. He presently serves on the Texas Department of Health taskforce on indoor air quality standards. Dr. Wilen speaks nationally and has published in the various areas of bioenvironmental issues, health and safety, and environmental threats.
His credentials only add to my unease. It is now impossible for me to retreat into the warm comfort of denial. If he were not such a likable man, I would dislike him for this.
* * *
Wilen claims to have an answer.
He has poured a fortune and a life time of experience into a project aimed at the prevention of those things unthinkable. No one paid much attention before September 11th.
"Years of devlopment of computer-based systems for accountability in educational institutions, healthcare, and business form the basis of the present project." It rolls off Wilen's tongue.
It is a mouth full.
The comprehensive approach of the project, called the "Preparedness to Defeat Terrorist Threats" is designed to stop such actions through managing information and resources. It identifies targets, threats, and individuals making them. It provides education at all levels and responds to the need for a cooperative program to manage information, communication, education, and available resources.
Computers. Software. Our weapons of defense.
In rural terms that I was born to, this is also known as keeping the barn door closed in the first place.
Wilen says "to defeat terrorist threats requires a level of preparedness not envisioned prior to this project. It is a computer-based system for tracking, managing, sharing, and retrieving information; rapid communication; and personnel and community education. The plan is a combined effort of International Horizons Unlimited, Accountability Initiatives, and experts throughout the United States."
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Copyright © 2001 RG Griffing Publications.
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