Germany plans to boost its stock of smallpox vaccine doses to 100 million by the end of the year in case of a terrorist attack, the health ministry said today.
"According to experts, the smallpox virus proves deadly in one out of three cases," a health ministry spokesman said, although he added everything should be done to avoid spreading panic.
An interior ministry spokeswoman also stressed the need to tread carefully in talking about the risk of an attack, "so as not to spread hysteria among the population unnecessarily".
German Interior Minister Otto Schily had on Saturday dismissed a report that his ministry had information about smallpox stockpiles in Iraq. He insisted Berlin was operating on the assumption that there was a "general, abstract danger" from smallpox viruses.
The weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, citing an internal government paper, reported Sunday that Berlin had held "documented findings" since August 2002 about smallpox virus stocks in Iraq.
Earlier this month, the German health ministry said it had ordered 30 million further doses of smallpox vaccine in addition to 36 million already held in reserve.
Health Minister Ms Ulla Schmidt said last month she would increase reserves by the end of the year so as to protect the entire German population of 82 million. AFP