Government is investigating whether to get small pox vaccine to counter a possible terrorist threat.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann said the Island had no such cover at the moment and getting the vaccine would be difficult, although the US is stepping up production.

Dr. Cann pointed out that small pox has been eradicated worldwide with a few governments holding the disease in laboratories.

He said: “As part of our bioterrorism preparedness we are looking to ensure we are doing our best to safeguard the public.”

The US government last month ordered additional smallpox vaccine doses to build a stockpile large enough to vaccinate every American against the disease after experts feared it could resurface in a biological attack.

But American officials said they were not planning to launch a mass immunisation programme.

Easily spread from person to person, smallpox kills about 30 percent of its victims and leaves others disfigured.

There is no effective treatment once someone falls ill, but giving a vaccine in the days immediately following exposure can prevent illness.