An Ottawa tribe member confronts the British colonel who spread smallpox with infected blankets.
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Bioweapon 10: Smallpox
The term "biological weapon" typically summons mental images of sterile government labs, hazmat suits and test tubes full of brightly colored liquid apocalypse. Historically, however, biological weapons have often taken much more mundane forms: a wandering exile, paper bags full of plague-infested fleas or even, during the1763 French and Indian War, a simple blanket.
At the orders of Cmdr. Sir Jeffrey Amherst, British forces infamously distributed smallpox-infected blankets to Native American tribes in Ottawa. The native inhabitants of the Americas were particularly susceptible to the illness since, unlike their European invaders, they hadn't encountered smallpox before and lacked any degree of immunity to it. The disease cut through the tribes like wildfire [source: Yount].
Smallpox is caused by the variola virus. The most common form of the disease has a 30 percent mortality rate [source: CDC]. Signs of smallpox include high fevers, body aches, and a rash that develops from fluid-filled bumps and scabs to permanent, pitted scars. The disease predominantly spreads through direct contact with an infected person's skin or bodily fluids, but also can be spread though the air in close, confined environments.
In 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) spearheaded an effort to eradicate smallpox through mass vaccinations. As a result, 1977 marked the last naturally occurring case of smallpox. The disease was effectively eliminated from the natural world, but laboratory copies of smallpox still exist. Both Russia and the United States possess WHO-approved stores, but as smallpox played a role in several nations' bioweapons programs, it's unknown how many secret stockpiles still exist.
The CDC classifies smallpox as a Category A biological weapon due to its high mortality rate and the fact that it can be transmitted through the air. While a smallpox vaccine exists, typically only medical and military personnel undergo vaccination -- meaning the rest of the population is very much at risk if smallpox were unleashed as a weapon. How might the virus be released? Probably in aerosol form or even in the old-fashioned way: by sending an infected individual directly into the target area.
The method for unleashing a biological weapon doesn't have to be flashy, however. Consider how much press our next bioweapon received, all with a few postage stamps.
