The Aral smallpox incident was a 30 July 1971 outbreak of the

viral disease A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. Examples include the common cold, gastroenteritis, COVID-19, ...

which occurred as a result of a field test at a Soviet

biological weapon Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and Toxin#Biotoxins, biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,2 ...

s (BW) facility on an island in the

Aral Sea The Aral Sea () was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south, which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up into desert by the 2010s. It was in the Aktobe and Kyzylorda regions of Kazakhst ...

. The incident sickened ten people, of whom three died, and came to widespread public notice only in 2002.

Background

In 1954, an existing biological weapons test site originally constructed on

Vozrozhdeniya Island Vozrozhdeniya Island (; ; ) was an island in the Aral Sea. The former island's territory is split between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In 1954, the Soviet Union constructed a biological weapons test site called Aralsk-7 there and on the neighbou ...

in the

in 1948 was greatly expanded by the Soviet Ministry of Defence, including to the neighboring Komsomolskiy Island, and named Aralsk-7. A field scientific research laboratory to conduct biological experiments was expanded, and the town of Kantubek was constructed to house employees and scientists. Bio-agents tested there included ''

Bacillus anthracis ''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent (obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ty ...

'', ''

Coxiella burnetii ''Coxiella burnetii'' is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, and is the causative agent of Q fever. The genus ''Coxiella'' is morphologically similar to '' Rickettsia'', but with a variety of physiological differences genetically cla ...

'', ''

Francisella tularensis ''Francisella tularensis'' is a pathogenic species of Gram-negative coccobacillus, an aerobic bacterium. It is nonspore-forming, nonmotile, and the causative agent of tularemia, the pneumonic form of which is often lethal without treatment. It i ...

'', ''

Brucella suis ''Brucella suis'' is a bacterium that causes swine brucellosis, a zoonosis that affects pigs. The disease typically causes chronic inflammatory lesions in the reproductive organs of susceptible animals or orchitis, and may even affect joints and ...

'', ''

Rickettsia prowazekii ''Rickettsia prowazekii'' is a species of gram-negative, obligate intracellular parasitic, aerobic bacilliform bacteria of class Alphaproteobacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, transmitted in the feces of lice. In North Am ...

'', '' Variola major'' (smallpox), ''

Yersinia pestis ''Yersinia pestis'' (''Y. pestis''; formerly ''Pasteurella pestis'') is a Gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative, non-motile bacteria, non-motile, coccobacillus Bacteria, bacterium without Endospore, spores. It is related to pathogens ''Yer ...

'',

botulinum toxin Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin (commonly called botox), is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum'' and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon en ...

, and

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus is a mosquito-borne viral pathogen that causes Venezuelan equine encephalitis or encephalomyelitis (VEE). VEE can affect all equine species, such as horses, donkeys, and zebras. After infection, equines may ...

. (By 1960, the

Soviet biological weapons program The Soviet Union covertly operated the world's largest, longest, and most sophisticated biological weapons program, thereby violating its obligations as a party to the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972.Leitenberg, M., Zilinskas, R., & Kuhn, ...

also included numerous other research and operational facilities throughout the country.) Aralsk-7 had a history of association with mass deaths of fish, various regional plague outbreaks, a

saiga antelope The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a species of antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe, spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in the southwes ...

die-off, and individual cases of infectious disease among visitors to Vozrozhdeniya Island.

The incident

According to Soviet General Pyotr Burgasov (Peter Burgasov), field testing of 400 grams of smallpox at Aralsk-7 caused an outbreak on 30 July 1971. Burgasov, former Chief Sanitary Physician of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, former Soviet Vice-Minister of Health and a senior researcher within the Soviet BW program, described the incident:

On Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea, the strongest recipes of smallpox were tested. Suddenly I was informed that there were mysterious cases of mortalities in Aralsk (Aral). A research ship he ''Lev Berg''of the Aral fleet came to within 15 km of the island (it was forbidden to come any closer than 40 km). The lab technician of this ship took samples of plankton twice a day from the top deck. The smallpox formulation—400 gr. of which was exploded on the island—"got her" and she became infected. After returning home to Aralsk, she infected several people including children. All of them died. I suspected the reason for this and called the Chief of General Staff of Ministry of Defense and requested to forbid the stop of the
Alma-Ata Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border wi ...
-
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
train in Aralsk. As a result, the epidemic around the country was prevented. I called
Soviet General Secretary The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the country's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognize ...
Yuri] Yuri Andropov, Andropov, who at that time was Chief of KGB, and informed him of the exclusive recipe of smallpox obtained on Vozrazhdenie Island.

There is a contending belief that the disease actually spread to the ''Lev Berg'' from

Uyaly Uyaly () is an alkaline lake in Akkuly District, Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan. The lake is located about west of the Russia-Kazakhstan border. The nearest village is Sharbakty to the north. Akkuly, the district capital, lies to the northwe ...

or Komsomolsk-on-Ustyurt, two cities in what is now Uzbekistan where the ship docked. The incident caused ten individuals to contract smallpox and three unvaccinated individuals (a woman and two children) died from the haemorrhagic form of the disease. One crew member of the ''Lev Berg'' contracted smallpox as the ship passed within 15 km (9 miles) of the island. This crew member became ill on 6 August with fever, headache, and

myalgia Myalgia or muscle pain is a painful sensation evolving from muscle tissue. It is a symptom of many diseases. The most common cause of acute myalgia is the overuse of a muscle or group of muscles; another likely cause is viral infection, espec ...

. The ship then landed in the port city of Aral on 11 August. The ill crew member returned to her home, and she developed a cough and temperature exceeding 38.9 °C (102 °F). Her physician prescribed

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

s and

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

. Although she was previously vaccinated for smallpox, a rash subsequently appeared on her back, face, and scalp; her fever subsided; and she recovered by 15 August. On 27 August this patient's 9-year-old brother developed a rash and fever, his pediatrician prescribed

tetracycline Tetracycline, sold under various brand names, is an antibiotic in the tetracyclines family of medications, used to treat a number of infections, including acne, cholera, brucellosis, plague, malaria, and syphilis. It is available in oral an ...

and aspirin, and he recovered. During the following three weeks, eight additional cases of fever and rash occurred in Aral. Five adults ranging in age from 23 to 60, and three children (4 and 9 months old, and a 5-year-old) were diagnosed with smallpox both clinically and by laboratory testing. These children and the 23-year-old were previously unvaccinated. The two youngest children and the 23-year-old subsequently developed the haemorrhagic form of smallpox and died. The remaining individuals had previously been vaccinated, and all recovered after having an attenuated form of the disease. The high ratio of haemorrhagic smallpox cases in this outbreak, combined with the rate of infectivity and the testimony of General Burgasov, has led to the understanding that an enhanced weaponized strain of smallpox virus was released from Aralsk-7 in 1971.

Response

A massive public health response to the smallpox cases in Aral ensued once the disease was recognized. In less than two weeks, approximately 50,000 residents of Aral were vaccinated. Household quarantine of potentially exposed individuals was enacted, and hundreds were isolated in a makeshift facility at the edge of the city. All traffic in and out of the city was stopped, and approximately 5.000 sq. meter (54.000 sq. ft.) of living space and 18 metric tons of household goods were incinerated by health officials.Zelicoff (2002), ''Op. cit.''

References

* ''This article also contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Aral smallpox incident Biological warfare Non-combat military accidents 1971 in the Soviet Union 1971 industrial disasters 1971 disasters in the Soviet Union 1971 health disasters Smallpox epidemics Health disasters in Russia Soviet cover-ups Health in the Soviet Union Aral Sea Smallpox eradication July 1971 in Asia Soviet biological weapons program