Geneva, May 19 (EFE) .- The World Health Organization (WHO) decided tomorrow, Friday, about the long-debated question of whether to be destroyed and the last smallpox or once again postponed the date.
Representatives of 193 Member States gathered at the World Health Assembly, will address the fourth time in the last quarter-century if the time has come to get rid of these live virus disease was officially eradicated in 1980 , as proclaimed WHO.
But if the virus is not present in nature or in man or other animals, samples are still jealously guarded by two high-security laboratories, a center in Atlanta (USA), which has more than 400, and another in Koltsovo (Russia), which stores 120.
In principle, the decision to destroy the last known samples of the virus was taken by the international community in 1996, but countries are divided over the timing of it.
The last time the WTO members took a decision was in 2007, when once again decided to postpone the date of destruction.
Smallpox is a highly contagious disease, and was one of the most feared in the world for its high mortality rate, 30 percent of those affected, until he could be eradicated after a global vaccination campaign intense.
The last known case occurred in Somalia in 1977, as a natural infection, but the danger of the virus finds an incident in 1978 in Birmingham (UK) where an employee of the School of Medicine, University died because of a laboratory accident.
All indications are that tomorrow the WHO will postpone the date for destruction five years, as several countries, including Russia and the USA have submitted a draft resolution to that effect.
U.S. Secretary of Health, Kathkleen Sebelius, confirmed this week in Geneva have presented this project, and reiterated Washington's position in favor of keeping even the virus for research purposes.
Sebelius described the fear that these viruses are still in other laboratories in addition to the two officers, and that can be used in a bioterrorist attack.
"We fear that the pox virus is present outside these two official laboratories and can be expanded or intentionally used as a biological weapon," said U.S. Health responsible. He also noted
Washington is conducting further research to be sure that it could hinder a possible recurrence of the disease because one of bioterrorist attacks.
supporters continue to argue that keeping the virus is the only way to develop new vaccines or drugs, because you can not do experiments with it in humans.
Other voices of countries and change experts are favorable to the destruction of the samples precisely on the grounds that it is dangerous to keep them.
"Those who want to destroy ya, remember that the disease has been eradicated, and stress that the technology exists to develop new vaccines and Drugs, said Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, the media service of WHO.
For his part, Gregory Hartl, another UN spokesman, said such decisions usually are made in the WHO by consensus, but acknowledged that this case, because of differences might be needed for a vote.
addition, although the adoption of the decision to destroy most strains, the WHO has no powers to enforce the resolution or to impose sanctions.
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