41. The 1971 Smallpox Epidemic in Aralsk, Kazakhstan, and the Soviet Biological Warfare Program
- Author:
- Jonathan B. Tucker and Raymond A. Zilinskas
- Publication Date:
- 10-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
- Abstract:
- The heart of this occasional paper is a translation of an official Soviet-era document titled “Report on Measures Taken to Contain and Eradicate the Smallpox Outbreak Locale in the City of Aralsk, September/October 1971.” This previously secret report describes and analyzes an outbreak of smallpox that occurred in autumn 1971 in Aralsk, a small city on the shore of the Aral Sea in what was then the Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic. Ten persons became infected with smallpox, and three died, before the outbreak was successfully contained by means of quarantine, mass vaccination in Aralsk, and other public health measures. A contagious disease that killed about a third of its victims, smallpox was characterized by high fever, prostration, and a painful pustular rash on the face and body that left survivors with disfiguring facial scars.
- Topic:
- Health, Terrorism, War, Weapons of Mass Destruction, World Health Organization, and Biosecurity
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia and Kazakhstan