Smallpox scenario for Nebraska

Official: Vaccinations would take four days

The Associated Press

NORTH PLATTE -- It would take four days to vaccinate all 1.7 million people in Nebraska in event of a smallpox attack, the state's chief medical officer said.

"We would vaccinate key individuals immediately and plan to vaccinate the rest within four days," Dr. Richard Raymond told 25 local health care officials Monday.

Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, but some supplies were kept by scientists. Iraq, North Korea and Russia are thought to possess the virus in dangerous quantities.

Nebraska will begin implementing a vaccination plan early next year. About 500 key health care providers will be vaccinated first, and within weeks about 5,000 others will be immunized, including members of the Nebraska State Patrol, life flight pilots, laboratory workers, interpreters and members of the National Guard.

Nebraska's 22 public health districts will coordinate the vaccination, Raymond said.

Those health districts were created during the past two years, funded by settlement money from lawsuits against four major tobacco companies.

There are side effects to being vaccinated.

If 1 million of Nebraska's residents were vaccinated, about 1,000 would experience minor sickness such as fever and chills, 50 would become seriously ill, three or four would suffer permanent neurological damage and one or two would die, Raymond said.

People who have other health problems would be more vulnerable to damage from the vaccine.

On The Net

Nebraska Health and Human Services System: http://www.hhs.state.ne.us.

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