Vials that were labeled as containing smallpox did not have the actual virus in them.
Earlier this week a handful of vials were found at a vaccine research facility in Pennsylvania. The discovery was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.
The vials were found frozen and intact in a freezer that was being cleaned at a location that does vaccine research.
The freezer was secured and the staff notified the CDC.
The facility is operated by Merck and is located in Montgomery County, WCAU reported.
But the CDC said Thursday that the vials had vaccinia, a virus that is related to the smallpox-causing variola virus and which was used to make the smallpox vaccine, CNN reported.
It is also what inspired the word “vaccine.”
Still, the CDC is consulting with health officials, law enforcement and the World Health Organization.
The CDC believes smallpox existed for at least 3,000 years before it was eradicated in 1980. It killed 3 of every 10 people who contracted it. Only a few samples still exist in labs in two locations; the CDC in Atlanta and the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia. People are no longer routinely vaccinated against the disease, CNN reported.
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