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November 8, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"France Denies Having Stocks of Smallpox Virus"

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com)

(11/06/02)

France rejected on Wednesday an allegation that it has stocks of the smallpox virus.  An article in the Washington Post this week cited sources who suggested that five nations--the United States, France, North Korea, Russia, and Iraq--all have stocks of the deadly virus; however, French officials stated that the only stockpiles are at the Centers for Disease Control in the United States and at the VEKTOR facility in Russia.  Bernard Valero, assistant spokesman at the French State Department, noted that France does not have any stocks of smallpox virus, and while scientists in the country are working on a next-generation vaccine, the research is only being conducted in approved animals and does not pose a risk to humans.

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