By Ron Strom
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

Officials from the World Health Organization are "on the ground" in Pakistan investigating a claim first reported in the Pakistan Dawn newspaper that an "epidemic" of smallpox is threatening the Swabi district of the country.

"There has not been a case of smallpox anywhere in the world since the late 1970s, and all rumors since then have been proved to be false," Iain Simpson, a spokesman for WHO, told WorldNetDaily.

"There have been several recent rumors from Central Asia and the Middle East. In all cases, it has turned out to be the result of poor translation. In each recent case, the disease was actually chickenpox. It is likely that this is again chickenpox in Pakistan, especially as the report itself comments that those infected are mainly children."

According to the June 9 Pakistan Dawn story, "a large number of children have suffered from smallpox, but the authorities concerned have failed to take any action to prevent this disease or immunize the people against it." The story adds, "A health official said that the dilemma of the people was that they were not aware of the danger aspects of this ailment as the children suffering from it have neither been kept in isolation nor properly treated."

While smallpox is a deadly disease, there is no mention in the story of any deaths attributed to the outbreak.

Added Simpson, "For the moment, we are investigating, but have so far received no information to indicate that this is in fact smallpox."

A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control also was skeptical of an actual smallpox outbreak.

"There are so many poxes out there that are sometimes misdiagnosed," said the CDC's Llelwyn Grant. "It could be a number of things."

There also have been reports on the Internet recently about "smallpox" outbreaks in India. Peter Friedlander translates Indian news stories into English and says terminology can be a problem.

"The Hindi/Urdu term 'cecak' covers smallpox and anything that looks similar," he explained.

In recent months, the threat of a smallpox bioterror attack has raised new questions about who might have access to the virus and how it could be used as a deadly weapon against large population bases.

Terror experts have speculated on al-Qaida and other organizations' plans for bioterrorism and how deadly a smallpox attack would be. Pakistan is known to have pockets of al-Qaida operatives working within its borders.

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