An explosion rocked a Russian research facility known to harbor the smallpox virus

An explosion on Monday caused a fire at the National Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology, a biological research facility in Siberia known to be one of two centers in the world harboring live virus samples of smallpox. The Atlanta Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the only other known place to keep live samples of the deadly pathogen.

According to the chief administrator of the city of Koltsovo, where is the research center, commonly called the Vector Institute, the explosion occurred during scheduled maintenance work. The incident does not pose a threat to the surrounding community, Nikolai Krasnikov told Russia TASS Press Agency. according to TASS there was no biohazard substance involved. A worker was injured and taken to hospital with burns. Russia today indicated that emergency responders treated the explosion and fire as a major incident, given the delicate work of the Vector Institute.

The Vector Institute is known for its first-rate epidemiological research. according to TASS, the researchers recently completed successful trials on an Ebola vaccine earlier this year. Despite this reputation, questions have been raised about the institute. A senior Soviet firearms official who visited the United States in the 1990s claimed that smallpox had been transferred to the Vector Institute in order to conduct weapons-of-war research.

The other smallpox repository in the world, the CDC, was also asked about its processes and its security infrastructure. In 2016, USA today published a facility failure investigation, including an incident in 2009, where scientists in biological hazard suits could see light entering a decontamination chamber where workers who had just been working with deadly pathogens were supposed to be sprayed with chemicals.

The last known smallpox outbreak dates back to 1977 and the World Health Organization declared the eradication of the disease in 1980. The disease killed about 300 million people in the twentieth century and three people on whom it was contracted are deceased. Survivors were often left scarred and blind.

Monday's explosion follows another explosion at a Russian facility conducting risky and high-tech research. In August, an accident at a missile test site killed five nuclear scientists. US officials believe the researchers on the site were working on a nuclear-powered cruise missile.