The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that Israel has begun producing the smallpox vaccine in preparation for a possible biological attack by Iraq.

Enough vaccines have been produced for Israel's entire population of about 6.6 million people but the government has yet to make a decision to begin immunizations, Health Ministry spokesman Ido Hadari said.

He would not say when production of the vaccines had begun but said the decision to start had come in light of fears of a possible biological attack by Iraq or a terrorist group. It would take Israel a few days to vaccinate the population.

"The trigger could be a few things; the U.S. strike on Iraq, whenever that is, or a terrorist attack, some sort of mega-event with a lot of casualties," Hadari said.

Iraq attacked Israel with Scud missiles in the 1991 Gulf War but they were not fitted with biological or chemical weapons.

I lived in Israel in the 90's and had to wear a gas mask dozens of times during the Gulf war, when Saddam Hussein fired Scud missiles against the Israeli civilian population. Palestinians fully supported Iraq during the Gulf War and cheered from their roofs as the missiles landed in Tel-Aviv.

I copy the full article below.

Israel begins producing smallpox vaccine for fear of Iraqi attack
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 6, 2002
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1027506458570

Israel has begun producing the smallpox vaccine in preparation for a possible biological attack by Iraq if Baghdad were to retaliate for an American strike, a health official said Monday.

Enough vaccines have been produced for Israel's entire population of about 6.6 million people but the government has yet to make a decision to begin immunizations, Health Ministry spokesman Ido Hadari said.

He would not say when production of the vaccines had begun but said the decision to start had come in light of fears of a possible biological attack by Iraq or a terrorist group. It would take Israel a few days to vaccinate the population.

"The trigger could be a few things; the U.S. strike on Iraq, whenever that is, or a terrorist attack, some sort of mega-event with a lot of casualties," Hadari said.

Iraq attacked Israel with Scud missiles in the 1991 Gulf War but they were not fitted with biological or chemical weapons.

Israel is producing a surplus of smallpox vaccines that could be used to inoculate tourists and about 300,000 foreign workers in the country, Hadari said. When asked if the vaccines would be supplied to the more than three million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and West Bank as well, Hadari said: "When the time will come we will decide how to use the vaccines."

About 100 Israelis have already been given the smallpox vaccine to begin preparing antidotes for any side effects, Hadari said.

Hadari said countries around the world should be preparing the smallpox vaccine since, in the event of a biological attack on any city in the world, the disease could spread to several countries within days.

Israel stopped vaccinating children against smallpox in 1978. A year later the World Health Organization ruled that the virus had been eradicated from the world.

Posted by David Melle
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