Toying with smallpox

Eight children in Russia who fell ill after playing with ampoules of smallpox
vaccine they found near a clinic in Vladivostok have been put in quarantine as a
precaution. The vaccine consists of a mild related virus, so there is no danger
of the children developing full-blown smallpox, local medics say. But the
children may have received much larger doses than would be used for
immunisation. According to Ken Alibek, a former biowarfare scientist who left
Russia in 1992, Soviet leaders stockpiled large stores of smallpox vaccine
because they were considering using smallpox as a weapon.