FX broadcasts "Smallpox"

FX Networks broadcast the made-for-TV movie "Smallpox" on Sunday, January 2, 2005. It was produced in documentary style as a look back on a fictional smallpox outbreak that occurred in 2002 and killed 60 million people. The tag line for the movie was, "It's all true. It just hasn't happened yet."

But how true was the movie? What we know about smallpox is that it is easily spread through the air when an infected person coughs or talks. It can also be spread by infected clothing or bed linens. However, in the movie the bioterrorist was able to infect people simply by passing by them or touching them briefly. One early victim supposedly contracted it by being in the elevator the terrorist rode in. None of these scenarios are correct; to contract smallpox you'd need to at least be in the same room with the person for 6-7 hours.

Smallpox does make a person extremely ill. More than 30% of people who get it die. The movie accurately portrayed these facts, as well as the mass panic that would occur once the story of an infection broke in the media. The movie also correctly showed that vaccination of a person exposed to smallpox may reduce the severity of the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a Web page that reviews the facts and fictions of "Smallpox."