In un magazzino del National Institutes of Health del Maryland, alcuni inservienti incaricati di sistemare il locale hanno trovato sei provette contenenti vaiolo. I campioni risalgono agli anni Cinquanta ed erano stati messi in una scatola di cartone che, una volta riposta in frigorifero, è stata dimenticata.
Secondo le prime analisi, il ritrovamento non ha mai posto problemi per la salute degli impiegati perché i contenitori erano sigillati e il virus probabilmente inattivo da anni. Fatto sta che l’esistenza di campioni di questo agente patogeno non catalogato tra quelli riconosciuti ha suscitato qualche perplessità.
Ancor di più dopo che nel 1980, anno in cui il virus venne dichiarato estinto il tutto il mondo, l'Organizzazione mondiale per la sanità aveva concentrato le ultime fiale esistenti in due laboratori, uno ad Atlanta, negli Stati Uniti, e uno a Novosibirsk, in Russia, ordinando la distruzione di tutte le altre.
ATS/ANSA/FrCa
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