Joshua Micah Marshall

Thanks to an international eradication campaign, the only known stocks of the smallpox virus are contained in facilities in the United States and Russia. Some have called for these to be destroyed to prevent their accidental or intentional release. In the following viewpoint, political writer Joshua Micah Marshall criticizes this proposal and rejects the claims of one of the plan’s proponents, Donald A. Henderson. Marshall writes that many public health experts have concluded that nations other than the United States and Russia may be hiding smallpox stocks, which they could one day use to infect the American population during a terrorist attack or war. He contends that the United States should retain its stores of the deadly virus to help scientists discover and improve on smallpox vaccinations...