The deadly virus was declared eradicated in the 1970s — and only two labs in the entire world are supposed to have samples.
Several frozen vials marked “smallpox” have been discovered by a lab worker cleaning out a fridge in Pennsylvania.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FBI are investigating the unsettling find, made at a Merck facility in Montgomery Count, it was confirmed Tuesday.
The CDC said the contents appeared intact, and nobody was exposed.
“The frozen vials labeled ‘Smallpox’ were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania,” a spokesperson told CNN.
“CDC, its Administration partners, and law enforcement are investigating the matter and the vials’ contents appear intact.”
They CDC said the lab worker who made the discovery was wearing gloves and a face mask at the time.
Smallpox was one of the deadliest viruses ever to plague humanity, killing approximately three in every ten infected; it is estimated to have wiped out half a billion people in the final hundred years of its existence. Survivors were often left blinded and severely disfigured by scarring.
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