SYDNEY Oct 3 Kyodo Australia is i...

SYDNEY Oct 3 Kyodo

Australia is importing and stockpiling smallpox virus vaccines as a precaution against biological terrorism, the Department of Health and Aging said Thursday.

The determine is part of the government's A$11.4 million (US$6.2 million) collection commitment to store antibiotics, antiviral unsalable articles chemical antidotes, vaccines and diagnostic ordeals to ensure the country's medical supplies can cope in the issue of a bioterrorism incident, Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Richard Smallwood said.

''While the risk to Australia of a terrorist releasing the smallpox virus is assessed as real low, the importation of smallpox vaccine is another circumspect step in our preparations to reply to threats to human health from biological agents,'' he said in a statement.

Although smallpox was certified as eradicated in 1979 stocks of the virus are still held in an laboratories for research purposes, causing fears they could be acquired by the agency of terrorists as weapons.

An initial shipment of 50000 doses of the vaccine imported from French manufacturer Aventis Pasteur is to arrive this month and an additional delivery from a inferior supplier early next year would mean Australia would have an adequate accommodate with of vaccines to manage a smallpox outbreak anywhere in the rural parts Smallwood said.

''We also have commitments from the World Health Organization and the American Center for Disease govern (and Prevention) to provide additional smallpox vaccine to Australia should that put to the test necessary,'' he said.

However, there were no plans to mass vaccinate the general public against smallpox as the vaccine was not risk-free and could have methodical side effects, including death in a small number of cases, Smallwood said.

''The circulating response strategy is to detain the vaccine in a sure location and deploy it to affected areas in the marked occurrence of the discovery of a case of smallpox in Australia,'' he said, adding that vaccination within days of aspect usually gave total protection against the virus.

The U regulation has said it aims to stockpile at least 286 million doses of smallpox vaccination at the end of 2002.

In April, Japan complet its stockpiling of vaccines for 25 million people

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