In brief
Health experts are expressing serious concern as former President Trump's administration orders the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), a move they believe could compromise smallpox security. The exit threatens decades of cooperative management and oversight of smallpox virus remnants, which were pivotal in ensuring global safety against this deadly pathogen.
According to Thomas R. Frieden, former CDC director, the American smallpox cache is housed in a high-security lab that employs extreme precautions to prevent leaks. The W.H.O.'s efforts culminated in the successful eradication of smallpox in humans, a major milestone credited to global collaboration. With the United States no longer participating, experts fear that storage, research, and oversight programs will be dismantled, potentially increasing the risk of smallpox re-emergence or misuse. Daniel R. Lucey, a Dartmouth professor, stressed that Trump's withdrawal from the W.H.O. could lead to significant regulatory lapses in smallpox safety and inspections. Historically, two repositories of the virus exist, one in Atlanta and another in Russia, both maintained under strict Biosafety Level 4 protocols to mitigate risks. The potential fallout from losing this international cooperation could be far-reaching, putting both public health and global security at risk.
