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Smallpox is to be given a stay of execution. Scientists advising the World
Health Organization have recommended postponing the destruction of the last
official stocks of smallpox virus, which are held under guard in the US and
Russia. WHO member states agreed reluctantly in 2000 to put off the
destruction—and the official extinction of smallpox—until this year.
But with renewed fears of bioterrorism, the scientists want to keep the virus
for vaccine research. The panel of member states that oversees the WHO is
expected to vote on the issue this week.