‘That would be a possibility but it’s a decision I think we would have to leave up to individual governments.’
‘Israel was uppermost in everyone’s mind.
‘But before we do that or recommend anything else, I suggest that we ask the Iraqis outright why their man had been vaccinated against smallpox and judge them on their reaction.’
The suggestion gained universal approval.
‘Then that’s settled. I will arrange for a joint WHO/UN delegation to draft the question. We will reconvene when I have an answer. In the meantime perhaps Dr Lang and his colleagues could check again with the institutes holding live virus
and also on the state of monitoring of these fragments.’
Lang nodded. ‘Of course, sir.’
EIGHT DAYS LATER
Same Location.
‘We have received a reply from Baghdad, ladies and gentlemen,’ announced the chairman. ‘They say that during a routine vaccination programme for some of their troops an old batch of smallpox vaccine was used in mistake for hepatitis vaccine. Apparently one batch of freeze-dried vaccine looked pretty much like any other to the junior medical staff who were involved in giving the shots. They apologise for the border incident and any alarm caused.’
‘They apologised?’
‘Makes me suspicious.’
The chairman, took off his glasses and waited until the comments subsided before saying, ‘It is just conceivable they are telling the truth. Unlike many vaccines, freeze-dried smallpox vaccine can be stored for a long time. Such a mix-up could have happened.’
‘The question is, did it?’
‘I think we must be very cautious,’ said the German woman.
‘Dr Lang, have you anything to tell us?’ asked the chairman.
‘We approached both the CDC and the Russian institute. Both report no attempted breach of security and stocks of the virus are all accounted for.’
‘Good, how about fragment movement?’
Lang moved a little uneasily in his seat. ‘That was a bit more difficult,’ he confessed. ‘Many labs across the world have requested viral fragments for their research programmes. AIDS research is very intense. There is a lot of competition.
‘ ‘There’s a lot of money at stake!’ came the cynical comment from one of the group members.
‘Is the monitoring system to ensure that no one lab gets more than twenty percent of the complete virus working or not?’ insisted the chairman.
‘Y. es,’ replied Lang but he sounded uncertain.
‘Let me put it another way,’ said the chairman, ‘Is it at all conceivable that an attempt has been made to recreate live smallpox virus from these fragments?’
‘I would really think … not.’
‘But you’re not absolutely certain?’
‘One can never be absolutely certain. If someone is determined enough to do something then, who knows?’
The chairman was reluctant to let Lang off the hook. He said, ‘Supposing a scientist were to request a few fragments of virus at one institution and then move to another, would it be possible for him — or her to order some more fragments without you realising what was going on?’
‘Our records are institute records,’ conceded Lang. ‘Fragments are not referenced against individuals.’
‘So a university department or research institute might be credited with having three fragments when, in practice, an individual scientist working there might have brought three more with him from his last job and have access to six?’
‘I suppose so.’
A great deal of unease had been created by Lang’s answers. The chairman had to hold up his hand for quiet.
‘Ladies … Gentlemen … please. I suggest we keep a sense of proportion about what we’ve learned. I was deliberately trying to paint a worst possible case scenario. Let us pause and consider the facts as they really are.’
The room returned to calm and order.
I think we can be reasonably sure that stocks of live virus remain untouched and there has been no criminal attempt to obtain them.
People nodded their agreement.
The situation pertaining to the fragments however, may or may not be a cause for concern. We need more in the way of reassurance.’
‘I vote we recommend a complete ban on the circulation of these fragments for the moment,’ said the German woman, Lehman. It was a view that attracted considerable support from the others but one that made the chairman discernibly uncomfortable.
‘I see two things against that course of action,’ he said. ‘One is the fact that we would undoubtedly interrupt aspects of AIDS research programmes all over the world. To what extent, we can’t be sure, — perhaps very little in view of the slowness of progress in that particular field, but it would certainly cause inconvenience and even some degree of resentment among the scientific community. Universal goodwill is important to both the World Health Organisation and the United Nations. I am loath to do anything that might damage it.’
‘Chairman, there is also a view that being overly concerned with our image makes us impotent. I would like to draw the meeting’s attention to the last report issued by the UN inspectors in Iraq before their work was interrupted. They uncovered the presence of a factory at Wadi Ras which they suspected was being used for the manufacture of biological weapons. The Iraqis successfully argued that it was actually being used for vaccine production. In the light of what we’ve heard, I don’t think we can take comfort from that … ’
Argument and discussion continued until the chairman said, ‘Colleagues, We’ll put it to a vote.’
Voting slips were passed round the table, marked in silence and returned to the chairman who separated them into two piles in front of him. It was obviously going to be a close run thing. With the last slip assigned, he stood up and announced, ‘We have voted by a majority of two to recommend an immediate halt to the movement of smallpox viral fragments.’
Some people shrugged, others smiled.
‘Dr Lang? You have something to add?’
‘Perhaps I should just say that individual countries have already been asked to carry out an audit on the fragments their research institutions are holding.’
‘Good, that would be helpful,’ said the chairman. ‘But let’s hope than none of this is really necessary at all. Let’s look forward to finding out that our fears are
groundless and our suspicions nothing more than paranoia.’ It was an appropriate note on which to end the meeting.
The Home Office
London.
October 1997
Adam Dewar arrived at the Home Office with only two minutes to spare before his scheduled meeting. He thought he’d given himself plenty of time for the journey up from his flat by the river but he had underestimated the sheer numbers of late season tourists in the capital. He was feeling distinctly ruffled by the time he had circumnavigated the final group.
‘Video cameras! There can’t be one dog turd left unrecorded in London,’ he complained to his boss’s secretary, Jean Roberts as he entered her office a little breathless.
‘Tourism is good for the economy, Dr Dewar,’ she replied with a smile. ‘Nice to see you in good form. You can go straight in.’
Dewar worked for the Sci-Med Inspectorate, a government body set up to provide preliminary investigation into potential wrong-doings in the Hi-Tec areas of science and medicine, areas where the police had little or no expertise. The staff comprised a number of medically or scientifically qualified people whose task it was to carry out discreet, occasionally under-cover enquiries in the often blurred margins that separated incompetence from outright criminality. Highly qualified professional people invariably resented outside interest in what they were doing, regarding it as unwarranted interference, so discretion was of the utmost importance until at least, the facts were established.