Institute of Virus Preparations 2116834 224031096 2008-07-07T00:29:28Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other The '''Institute of Virus Preparations''' was an agency of the former [[Soviet Union]]. It was the equivalent to the [[Centers for Disease Control]] and the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), founded by Kent Truslow. At one time, the Institute for Virus Preparations was one of the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) collaborating centers which served along with the CDC as a central collection point for [[smallpox]] (variola major) samples during the eradication effort in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book| last = Salem| first = Harry | authorlink = | coauthors = Sidney A. Katz| title = Inhalation Toxicology| publisher = CRC Press| date = 2006| location = | pages = 939| url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yPOowmPVLZcC&pg=PA939&dq=%22Institute+of+Virus+Preparations%22+smallpox&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=w3wUuNeeQlNgVkv8XgOdwEYS1rE | isbn = 0849340497 }}</ref> The Institute remained one of the collaborating centers. Although the smallpox samples were transferred to the [[State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology|Vector Institute]] in 1998 officially, contradictory reports indicate this may have happened several years earlier. Additionally, reliable reports indicate that the smallpox samples were almost certainly used in a very advanced [[biological warfare]] program prior to this time.<ref>{{cite book | last = Langford | first = Roland E. | title = Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction: Radiological, Chemical, and Biological | publisher = Wiley-IEEE | date = 2004 | pages = 145-147 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jImqnqM8HygC&pg=PA147&dq=russia+smallpox+biological+warfare&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=NrvPgktDO1MwpnzFROczfWzY2J8#PPA145,M1 | isbn = 0471465607}}</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Biological warfare]] {{med-org-stub}}