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In 1980, the World Health Organization declared the world free of smallpox, three years after the last known case of contagious and often fatal disease. Yet on Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of a new drug to treat the non-existent virus. Which give?
In a less than comforting statement, the FDA assured the public that the creation of the drug was just preemptive – you know, just in case the bioterrorists choose to release smallpox on the world again. The treatment offers us an additional option if ever smallpox were to be used as a biological weapon, "said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the FDA." Today 's action reflects the fact that smallpox should be used as a biological weapon, "said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, FDA Commissioner. FDA's commitment to ensuring that the United States is ready for any public health emergency with timely, safe and effective medical products. "
Although it has been decades since the last smallpox case in the world, the virus that causes it – the variola virus – is not technically extinct.According to the New York Times, there are at least two known virus stores : one in Russia and another in the United States
In 2014, several vials of variol They were discovered in a warehouse in a government lab in Maryland, raising concerns. that other hiding places of the virus could exist elsewhere. Experts in bioterrorism say that the virus could also be manipulated in a laboratory with modern techniques of genetic editing.
With very few people vaccinated against smallpox, the impact of a sudden release of the virus could be devastating, notes the Times. In the twentieth century alone, smallpox killed up to 500 million people. Very contagious, the disease, which can cause the appearance of pus sores all over the body, has a mortality rate of about 30 percent.
The new FDA-approved drug for smallpox – called tecovirimat or Tpoxx – is the first treatment created Specifically for Smallpox,
Since the disease no longer circulates, the FDA has stated that it could not test the new drug in infected humans. However, it has been shown to be very effective in curing animals infected with two related diseases, monkeypox and rabbit. Medical experts applauded Tpoxx's approval by the FDA, saying it was particularly important considering the fact that the smallpox vaccine – described in an episode 60 Minutes earlier as "the most dangerous vaccine – may not be given to certain persons, including pregnant women and people with immunodeficiency and certain skin diseases, because of its risks
The most commonly reported adverse reactions in humans are headache, Nausea and abdominal pain.The manufacturer of Tpoxx, SIGA Technologies, said that he has delivered 2 million treatments to the federal government, which will store the drug, reported the Associated Press.
SIGA said that he is also studying the possibility of developing the drug to treat other infectious diseases like monkeypox, a sometimes lethal virus that African monkeys can to transmit to humans
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