Holden seeks federal help with vaccine for smallpox

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden says the potential for a smallpox outbreak is a major threat and wants the federal government to supply vaccinations to key public health and emergency personnel.

In a letter to national homeland security director Tom Ridge, Holden raises several concerns, including smallpox precautions and the need for better state and federal communication.

The letter was made public Thursday by Holden's office.

Holden spokesman Jerry Nachtigal said preparation provided the impetus for the letter, not any impending threat of a smallpox outbreak.

Some authorities fear smallpox could be used in a bioterrorism attack with more widespread and deadly effects than the recent anthrax cases.

There is no treatment for smallpox, which could kill one out of every four people who become infected. Routine vaccinations ended in the United States in 1972.

Shots for health workers

The letter asks that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide vaccinations to Missouri's state and local public health employees, some private health workers and those who would respond first to an emergency.

The Atlanta-based center has vaccinated some of its health workers against smallpox as a precaution in case they need to investigate a terrorist attack involving the virus.

That, in part, is what prompted Holden's request for state and local vaccinations.

Missouri's homeland security adviser "Tim Daniel was really alarmed when he saw that the CDC was giving federal public health workers smallpox immunizations, totally ignoring folks in public health out in the hinterlands," Nachtigal said.

There is not a great likelihood of a smallpox outbreak in Missouri, said Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

"What this is about is preparation," Gonder said. "The idea is that we're recommending that the state have front-line people vaccinated and ready to go in case there is a case of smallpox in the state."

The state does not have its own supply of smallpox vaccine because that is controlled by the federal government.