Specialists in infectious diseases thus constitute the front line of defense. It's like having a real conversation with real people. However, Alibek asserts that even a global surveillance system such as this one could not sound an alarm quickly enough to save many lives. There would be hundreds of thousands of cases the first day. But even if a vaccine exists, no one can guarantee safety, doctors say.
Outdated vaccines Take smallpox.
The last smallpox vaccinations in the USA were administered in 1972, about the time smallpox was eradicated and the biowarfare treaty was signed. And there's not enough vaccine in stock to start up the smallpox vaccination program again, health officials say. Only about 7 million doses remain in a stockpile that has been stored for decades in a Lancaster, Pa., warehouse by manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. He advocates learning how to manipulate the human immune system, so doctors can activate it at the first sign of a germ-warfare attack. Such research will probably take years, if not decades, Alibek says.