by Dr. Neal Halsey, Department of International Health, Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, and Dr. Noel Rose, Autoimmune
Disease Research Center, Johns Hopkins University 1. What is the
risk of developing smallpox? Smallpox does not exist as a
naturally occurring disease anywhere in the world. The only risk
of smallpox would come from the use of smallpox as a weapon of
bioterrorism. Government security experts believe that
bioterrorists in several countries may have smallpox. No one
knows for certain whether or not they have smallpox or if
smallpox will be used as a weapon. Most infectious disease
experts believe that the risk of any individual being exposed to
smallpox is extremely low. 2. How good is this vaccine? No
vaccine is perfect. The smallpox vaccine provides approximately
95 percent protection against smallpox. This is about as
effective as most other live viral vaccines. 3. What kinds of
adverse reactions can occur? The smallpox vaccine causes a local
infection on the arm. A small group of blisters