I'd like to acknowledge a few books that opened my eyes to this controversial but fascinating field of research.
The first is The Virus and the Vaccine, a fascinating true story of the contamination of the polio vaccine with a cancer-causing monkey virus.
The second is Dr. Mary's Monkey. Although I didn't use this book as a source, it's a thrilling story in its own right, and weaves together the JFK assassination, the contaminated polio vaccine scandal, and a secret project to develop a bio-weapon to kill Fidel Castro.
Lastly I owe much of this research to the indispensable Vaccine Safety Manual for Concerned Families and Health Practitioners. The thousands of references provided have proved to be a veritable gold mine.
Bioterrorism, Dark Winter and the New Smallpox Vaccine
During the 1970s experimentation with smallpox virus was conducted, and two medical researchers were even killed in England as a result. To reduce the risk of future accidents, all remaining known samples were moved to a CDC facility in Georgia and the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk, Siberia.
Numerous deadlines came and went to destroy the virus, with some scientists defending the need to preserve them...“for science!”
On November 15th, 2001, in the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration postponed indefinitely any decision to eliminate seed stocks of the microbe.
Even though smallpox hadn't occurred in the U.S. since 1949, the government had stockpiled 15 million doses of the vaccine. However, the disgusting concoction was severely archaic:
Not only that, but the vaccine was known to cause inflammation of the brain as well as numerous other side effects, including smallpox itself and death. Sources:
Greenberg, M. “Complications of vaccination against smallpox.” Am J Dis Child 1948;76:492-502
Cangemi, VF. “Acute pericarditis after smallpox vaccination.” *N Engl J Med 1958;258:1257-9.
Copeman, PWM., et al. “Eczema vaccinatum.” British Medical Journal 1964;2:906-8.
Neff, JM., et al. “Complications of smallpox vaccination. I. National survey in the United States, 1963. NEJM 1967;276:125–32.
Fulginiti VA., et al. “Progressive vaccinia in immunologically deficient individuals.” Birth Defects Original Article Series. 1968;4:129–145.
Marmelzat, WL. “Malignant tumors in smallpox vaccination scars.” Arch Dermatol 1968;97:406.
Lane, JM., et al. “Routine childhood vaccination against smallpox reconsidered.” NEJM 1969;281:1220-4.
Lane, JM., et al. “Complications of smallpox vaccination, 1968. National surveillance in the U.S.” NEJM 1969;281:1220-4.
Holtzman, CM. “Postvaccination arthritis.” NEJM 1969;280:111-2.
Lane, JM., et al. “Deaths attributable to smallpox vaccination, 1959 to 1966, and 1968.” JAMA 1970;212:441-4.
In June 2001, before the 9/11 attacks, a team of bioterrorism specialists led by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies conducted a smallpox epidemic exercise ominously called Dark Winter.
Even though the Dark Winter simulation was severely flawed, Dr. Henderson, the “team leader” who also led WHO's global effort to eradicate smallpox, concluded that the threat was real and recommended 100 to 135 million doses.
Less than 10 days after 9/11, Dick Cheney was shown a video of the Dark Winter simulation and urged to increase the production of smallpox vaccine.
The new vaccine was expected to be made from a “diploid cell substrate” (human embryo) or from animal tissue cell cultures, including those with “tumorigenic potential.”
Franklin Top, a biotechnology expert and previous commander of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, declared that “reactogenicity” is going to be a problem.
Dr. Mark Buller, a virologist specializing in safer smallpox treatments at St. Louis University, boldly pronounced: “I would not even consider having my family vaccinated. I'm more likely to be hit riding my bike to work than be hit by a smallpox episode in my own life. [Stolberg, SG. “Immunization: vast uncertainty on smallpox vaccine.” New York Times (October 19, 2001)]
These reports compelled the CDC to release a fact sheet on the smallpox vaccine to address the many concerns, admitting, “There is evidence suggesting that smallpox vaccination may cause cases of heart inflammation (myocarditis), inflammation of the membrane covering the heart (pericarditis), and a combination of these two problems....Heart pain (angina) and heart attack have also been reported after smallpox vaccination.”
In 2005, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that assessed the safety of the government's program. The study documented nearly a thousand adverse events, including 85 hospitalizations (numerous cases of myocarditis or pericarditis), and three deaths. The report ends by suggesting:
In 2007, a two-year-old and his mother were infected with “eczema vaccinatum” after the father, a U.S. army soldier, was recently vaccinated against smallpox.
Also in 2007, an experimental smallpox vaccine called ACAM2000 (made by Acambis) was declared safe and effective by the FDA, despite the fact that clinical trials of this vaccine were halted three years earlier when several people developed myopericarditis after receiving the new vaccine.
According to the FDA, ACAM2000 is “nearly as effective” as the older smallpox vaccine, Dryvax, and poses “similar risks of serious side effects.”
As for Dryvax, the listed adverse reactions include autoinoculation (transfer of the virus to other parts of the body) affecting the face, nose, mouth, genitalia and rectum; infection of the eye resulting in blindness; post-vaccinal encephalitis, encephalomyelitis, encephalopathy, progressive vaccinia, eczema vaccinatum, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, neurological sequelae, and death.
However, even while U.S. Homeland Security was contemplating mandating the smallpox vaccine, not every government official was convinced. For example, Tommy Thompson of Health and Human Services said his department had no plans for a mandatory vaccination program, citing horrendous side effects as the principal reason. [Neergaard, L. “Health officials review smallpox plan.” Associated Press (October 19, 2001)]
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also opposed the idea, declaring that side effects were too numerous and too severe. [Stolberg, SG.]
Many pediatricians can't distinguish between smallpox and chickenpox, according to the results of a survey published in 2006 by Clinical Pediatrics.
Despite the well-documented concerns about the safety of the smallpox vaccine and the threat (and loss of civil liberties) associated with mandatory vaccines, on October 23, 2001, the CDC unveiled new legislation, The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, “giving public health officials and state governors the authority to arrest, vaccinate, medicate, and quarantine anyone they deem either unprotected from, or a threat to spread, infectious disease (see Section 504a—Vaccination and treatment).”
In response to this legislation, Dawn Richardson of PROVE, a vaccine awareness organization, declared:
This legislation also exempts the State, the police, and public health authorities from any liability. “If an individual opposes vaccines, is force-inoculated and dies, the perpetrators cannot be prosecuted.”
The ACLU also weighed in quite heavily against the MSEHPA.
Because of the increasing number of reported side effects, Congressman Henry Waxman was forced to state the obvious: “The president has asked healthcare workers to volunteer to be immunized so that they can serve society. In turn, society should help them if they are hurt when they volunteer.”
In response to these concerns, in 2006 the U.S. government published the “final rules” to the Smallpox Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The goal was to provide “benefits to public health and medical response team members and others who are injured as a result of receiving the smallpox vaccine.”
Also, “unvaccinated individuals injured after coming into contact with a vaccinated member of an emergency response plan, or with a person with whom the vaccinated person had contact, or their survivors may be eligible for the same program benefits.”
In conclusion, Neil Miller offers a crude, but damning, summary of this alternative perspective of the history of smallpox and the smallpox vaccine:
Being with unsanitary living conditions and poor nutritional awareness. This results in regional and self-limiting outbreaks of smallpox.
Conduct human experiments with variolation—the practice of inserting viral matter (infectious pus) from a smallpox victim into a deliberate cut on a healthy person.
When this fails, conduct human experiments with cowpox, horsepox, and horsegrease cowpox.
When this fails, deny it.
When this fails, blame it on “spurious” cowpox, improperly administered injections, or too few puncture marks...and recommend re-vaccination.
When this fails, manipulate statistics by altering medical records and falsifying death certificates...and mandate the smallpox vaccine.
When people refuse the shot, vaccination rates drop, and cases of smallpox dwindle...take full credit for eradicating the disease!