Before the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 , the World Health Organization proposed the destruction of all the known remaining stocks of smallpox virus that were kept in laboratories in the US and Russia . Fears of bioterrorism using smallpox virus and the possible need for the virus in the development of drugs to treat the infection have put an end to this plan . Had the destruction gone ahead , smallpox virus might have been the first to be made extinct by human intervention
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Social history of viruses