{
  "id": "RS21288",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS21288",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 103097,
      "date": "2003-01-10",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:00:32.584941",
      "title": "Smallpox: Technical Background on the Disease and Its Potential Role in Terrorism",
      "summary": "Smallpox, which kills approximately 30% of its victims, is estimated to have killed between 300\nand\n500 million people in the twentieth century before the World Health Organization's successful\neradication program. The smallpox vaccine is effective at preventing smallpox but has a higher\ncomplication rate than any other currently used vaccine. The terrorist attacks of 2001 have increased\nfears that smallpox might be used as a weapon of terror. Smallpox has several properties that might\nmake it desirable by terrorists, such as contagiousness and high lethality. These factors and its\nlimited availability also make it difficult for a terrorist to use. Most experts agree that it is very\nunlikely that smallpox will be used as a weapon, but the high consequences of a successful attack\nhave prompted exploration of methods to counter this threat. Also see  CRS Report RL31694 \n Smallpox Vaccine Stockpile and Vaccination Policy  and  CRS Report RL31368(pdf) ,\n Preventing\nProliferation of Biological Weapons: U.S. Assistance to the Former Soviet States . This report\nwill\nupdated as warranted.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS21288",
          "sha1": "6720f954a0c53eeddb82997e1ee56adb0ef9f578",
          "filename": "files/20030110_RS21288_6720f954a0c53eeddb82997e1ee56adb0ef9f578.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS21288",
          "sha1": "fb4d39cdf50e4065f5d3e5a7b1affd37817a8f69",
          "filename": "files/20030110_RS21288_fb4d39cdf50e4065f5d3e5a7b1affd37817a8f69.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Intelligence and National Security"
  ]
}