Australia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Richard Smallwood says Australia is
well prepared for potential biological and chemical threats.
At a communicable diseases conference in Canberra today, Professor
Smallwood said government health authorities are coordinating with national
security and emergency response agencies to deal with any potential threats.
He says we now face the possibility of the smallpox virus being released
back into the world to confront a virtually non-immune population.
Professor Smallwood says Australia has 50,000 vaccinations, which will be
substantially increased in the next two or three months.
"We do have smallpox vaccine here, again... there are response plans,
national and those in various states and territories, so I think we're
again well prepared should something like that occur," he said.
"The risk as we understand it is very small."
Hong Kong health authorities have ordered an entire housing block to be
quarantined to prevent the spread of the mystery pneumonia known as Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
There has been a large increase in the number of confirmed dengue fever
cases in far north Queensland. Another 20 Cairns residents are confirmed
with the potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease, bringing the count to 200.
Search on virulent and mousepox and Geelong...take pecillin you die soon.
