Demon in the Freezer (dir. Errol Morris) May 9, 2016 ARCHIVAL: Burner flame spinning Errol Morris (VO) Destroying smallpox would mean what, exactly? D.A. Henderson (VO) Taking the known stocks that are in the U.S. and Russia and destroying those viruses. Autoclave and burn. MAIN TITLE CARD Demon in the Freezer D.A. Henderson (VO) It makes it clear that this is a very dangerous virus, that it is effectively a crime against humanity if you’re found working with it. D.A. Henderson We’re being pushed very hard by a number of the developing countries who felt the virus should be destroyed. “We are the ones that have been suffering this disease and anything we can do that’s going to make it less likely is going to return, we must do.” Errol Morris (VO) I take it that you were in favor of destroying all existing— D.A. Henderson Absolutely, absolutely. Errol Morris (VO) Why? D.A. Henderson Simply because I felt it would mitigate the possibility of someone using the virus as a weapon. TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Microscopic image (purple/blue) D.A. Henderson, M.D. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Errol Morris (VO) Mitigate it but maybe not eliminate it? D.A. Henderson (VO) There’s no way you could eliminate it, absolutely no way you could do it. CG: Smallpox virus floating. ARCHIVAL NEWS (VO) This is the enemy, a virus called smallpox. It attacks only one species—humans. It is spread in only one way, from one person to another. There is no cure. Smallpox is a terrible disease, or perhaps now we can say, it was. ARCHIVAL NEWS (VO) Today a substantial milestone in human history. GRAPHIC: D.A. Henderson and headlines on smallpox eradication ARCHIVAL NEWS (VO) The World Health Organization says smallpox has now been wiped off the face of the earth and will never return. LOWER THIRD 1978 ARCHIVAL NEWS FOOTAGE ON TV (D.A. Henderson) Knowing what we went through, in terms of coups and wars and floods and refugee problems, I don’t think any of us would’ve been very optimistic. ARCHIVAL NEWS FOOTAGE ON TV (CBS anchor) Smallpox isn’t quite extinct. There’s some of the virus in the laboratory behind that door at the Center for Disease Control because scientists say they may need it some day, if and when another disease like smallpox comes along. TITLE CARD 1994 D.A. Henderson (VO) I was asked to meet with the National Security Council. GRAPHIC: D.A. Henderson and headlines on destruction of smallpox D.A. Henderson (VO) What should the position of the U.S. be? D.A. Henderson CIA said, “Fine, we agree.” Congress said, “Fine.” Interior said, “Fine.” We got around to Department of Defense. I remember, I can quote it exactly, “We non-concur.” Errol Morris (VO) Is that English? D.A. Henderson I don’t know about that, I’d never heard it before. It was Department of Defense. [laughter] The question came, “Why do you non-concur?” “Suppose somebody digs a body up in the tundra, and it’s smallpox. And the virus starts to spread, it could devastate the world.” I really didn’t want to come out and just say, “Look, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You know, cowpox from smallpox, they’re different” TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Vaccinia slide under microscope TEXT: Vaccinia virus causes cowpox and vaccinates against smallpox. D.A. Henderson (VO) Vaccinia is not smallpox. TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Variola slide under microscope TEXT: Variola virus causes smallpox. Errol Morris (VO) So, in order to generate the vaccine, you don’t need smallpox? D.A. Henderson (VO) No, no, no, no, no, you don’t need the virus at all. You don’t need smallpox. Errol Morris (VO) So why do people want to keep it around then? D.A. Henderson Well, suppose we destroy our stocks, and the Russians don’t destroy theirs. What then? I said, “So what? They’re going to attack us with smallpox, would we attack them with smallpox? Is that what you’re saying? That’s why we want to keep it?” “Oh no, no, I didn’t mean that.” “Well, why are we keeping it?” ARCHIVAL: Aerial shot of nuclear test D.A. Henderson (VO) Nuclear mutual destruction argument. Errol Morris (VO) Mutually assured destruction with germs. D.A. Henderson (VO) Yeah. Serguei Popov I never wanted to have anything in common with biological weapons. It all happened against my will. They did not ask my opinion. TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Microscopic image (black and white) Serguei Popov, Ph.D. Formerly, Vector Institute Serguei Popov (VO) Initially, nobody told us there will be any connection Serguei Popov to Biopreparat biological weapon program. Gradually, they provided certain people with bits of information. GRAPHIC: Popov photos Serguei Popov (VO) Your scientific boss tells you, “You are a good scientist,” and they’ll give you more complex projects. Serguei Popov “But those projects will involve, of course, some state secrets. Don’t worry, you know, just sign these papers.” And that was it. There were 5,000 people, and only a handful knew the purpose of the Institute. And those people were called the “fully informed persons.” GRAPHIC: Vector Institute and Popov ID photo Serguei Popov (VO) The Institute was involved in the smallpox research. Serguei Popov But nobody ever would say smallpox. I would have to say the “Agent Number One.” And if I deviated from that behavior, the next morning the KGB boss would invite me for a talk, and would remind me that I violated the rule, and it was not allowed. TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Microscopic image (sepia) Peter Jahrling Ph.D. United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) Peter Jahrling (VO) If I were a Russian scientist, and I had been involved in a biological weapons program, and my country fell apart, Peter Jahrling I think I might have kept a little retirement fund in my freezer in the form of some smallpox virus to sell to the highest bidder. Errol Morris (VO) A retirement fund? Peter Jahrling Sure. I mean just think, if you were a bioterrorist, and wanted to get your hands on smallpox, that would be a very valuable commodity, wouldn’t it? Given the potential for smallpox to be used as a biological weapon, if you have a robust defense in the form of vaccines and antiviral drugs and treatment strategies, it takes the weapon off the table. GRAPHIC: USAMRIID building exterior, photos of Jahrling in lab Peter Jahrling (VO) To prove that vaccines and antiviral drugs are actually efficacious, it’s necessary to have the authentic virus. CG: Smallpox virus floating Errol Morris (VO) But one of the characteristics of smallpox is it targets only one particular species. Peter Jahrling (VO) It’s true. I mean, smallpox has a very restricted host range. Errol Morris (VO) It targets man. Peter Jahrling So the target is man, that’s right. But we’ve got a Food and Drug Administration that says, “Well, okay, if you want to license a drug, you’ve got to prove that it works.” D.A. Henderson It’s an arbitrary regulation of the Food and Drug Administration in this country. Before they could license these drugs, that it has to be tested in an animal. Now the only trouble is, it won’t grow in animals very well. Peter Jarling, goodness knows, has sent many, many cynomolgus monkeys to their great hereafter trying to develop a model. TITLE CARD 1999 Peter Jahrling (VO) There were those, when I first got involved in this research, who made the very argument you did, that, Peter Jahrling “Well, the virus, you know, doesn’t go in any other animals. So you can’t get there from here.” My thought on that was, “Well, I don’t know they can’t go in any other model. I know you guys say it can’t.” ANIMATION: Zooming in on various microscopic images (1. Pink, 2. Pink and Blue, 3. Green). Circular zoom from center to edges of frame. Peter Jahrling (VO) Let’s give it a try. Lisa Hensley (VO) In order to get to the virus, you have to enter into a secure building. Lisa Hensley You have to disrobe and place on scrubs. We call them bunny suit scrubs. You put on socks, and you put gloves on, and you tape the socks and the gloves to your scrubs. And then you climb into this very large blue plastic suit. Zipper it closed, and you plug into air. TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Microscopic image (black and white, blue tint) Lisa Hensley, Ph.D. USAMRIID Lisa Hensley (VO) That’s how you breathe. Lisa Hensley As you walk in, you’ll see these very large liquid nitrogen freezers. You unlock the padlock, and then you’re able to open the lid of these very large, round liquid nitrogen freezers. ARCHIVAL: Laboratory freezer with smoke coming off Lisa Hensley (VO) You’ll see the fog come out. There will be tubes filled with virus. ARCHIVAL: Laboratory freezer with close-up eye overlay Errol Morris (VO) What’s it look like? Lisa Hensley (VO) Pox viruses are a little unique. The material can actually take on almost an opalescent quality. CG: Smallpox virus floating Lisa Hensley (VO) There may be as much as one times ten to the ninth virus particles in that one little tube. Errol Morris (VO) And how many virus particles do you need to kill you? Lisa Hensley So that’s a great unknown. GRAPHIC: Photos of Hensley at CDC lab Lisa Hensley (VO) Pete Jarling, since I was his post-doc, basically just grabbed me in the hall and said, “You, you’re going down to Atlanta, and you’re going to go work on smallpox.” Lisa Hensley And I’m like, “Oh, okay.” Peter Jahrling The FDA would like to see a lot of things. They would like to see a progression of events that mirrors the human condition. The FDA would also like that the dose of virus be the same as what infects humans and that the root of exposure be the same. ARCHIVAL: Aerosol spray Peter Jahrling (VO) We tried the aerosol route. ANIMATION: Zooming in on microscopic image (pink). Bar sweeping right to left. Peter Jahrling (VO) And we tried the highest dose that we could put up, which was ten to the eighth virions. Individual virus particles. Our animals got sick, but nothing that really recapitulated smallpox disease. GRAPHIC: Jahrling/Hensley 2004 paper photos—variola. Headlines on smallpox destruction reprieve. Peter Jahrling (VO) WHO was clamoring for destruction.: You’ve had the virus for a lot of time. Peter Jahrling You can’t develop an animal model. There’s no reason to keep the virus around anymore.” We said, “Well, wait a minute, wait a minute. We need another year or so.” GRAPHIC: Jahrling/Hensley 2004 paper text—“aerosol“, “plus“, “i.v” Peter Jahrling (VO) Lisa Hensley calls it the “kitchen sink experiment,” where we gave the highest virus dose we could by both the aerosol and intravenous routes simultaneously. Errol Morris (VO) Why weren’t you a fan of it? Lisa Hensley (VO) I prefer more of a systematic approach. I would have preferred that we do just the aerosol or just the intravenous. I felt we were changing too many variables at once. TITLE CARD GRAPHIC: Monkey x-ray image TEXT: Animal models serve research by simulating human disease processes. Errol Morris (VO) Why is it so important to make the monkeys sick? Lisa Hensley (VO) How do you know a drug is going to work? How do you know a vaccine is going to work? Lisa Hensley The first step in this is the development of the model. If you don’t have that model, you can’t test your vaccines and have good confidence that this is something that is going to translate into protection or treatment in people. ANIMATION: Jahrling/Hensley 2004 paper text—“Exposure to Monkeys to Variola. Thirty-six cynomolgus monkey...two variola strains,” “as day 2. By day 3, early deve...“, death/total table. CG: Smallpox virus floating Lisa Hensley (VO) We came in on the morning of day three, most of the animals were down. None of us expected the virus to kill that quickly. We went in and suited up and started doing the necropsies. Lisa Hensley The degree of hemorrhage that we saw in these animals, I couldn’t believe it. GRAPHIC: Jahrling/Hensley 2004 paper photos—monkey paw with smallpox, monkey snout with smallpox Lisa Hensley (VO) One of the animals—Animal 099—went on to develop classic smallpox. Errol Morris (VO) So the experiment was a success. Lisa Hensley (VO) We have a tradition, we name survivors. ANIMATION: Jahrling/Hensley 2004 paper text—“Smallpox virus...bioterrorism...“, “virus (variola) pose... To mitigate this“, “...exposed to several...two strains...lethality when...“, “Harper“, “...variola stains...Harper and India...inoculated i.v. in” Lisa Hensley (VO) We had one monkey left, and so we had the India group and the Harper group. And it just kind of became the default, “How’s Harper?” Errol Morris (VO) But you still have to kill the animal. Lisa Hensley Um, unfortunately, yeah. And that’s one of the hard parts about doing this research. At the end of the experiment—even when the animal survives—unfortunately once that laboratory has to go down, that animal has to be euthanized. Peter Jahrling “Okay, good job, but it’s still not very faithful to the human condition. And, since you can’t infect them by any other route with lower doses, I want you to declare a success and go home.” And I’m not ready to declare a success, I’m still not ready to declare a success. I actually came up with an idea—I still think this is a brilliant idea. ANIMATION: Virus under microscope, change to x-ray of monkey under microscope. Virus photo slowly fades in over x-ray of monkey. Peter Jahrling (VO) Let’s take virus out of an infected monkey and use it as the inoculum for another round of monkeys. I proposed this to the World Health Organization. Peter Jahrling And said, “Okay, you want me to refine my model? Here’s how I’m going to refine my model.” “Oh no. You can’t do that. You’re modifying this virus. That—you can’t modify this virus. That’s—that’s forbidden.” Errol Morris (VO) That’s a no-no? Peter Jahrling That’s a no-no. “And you’re adapting it to another host. The reason the virus was eradicated from the planet was that it’s uniquely adapted to humans. And now you want to adapt it to monkeys? We can’t let you do that, you know.” I can’t believe we’re dismissing the opportunity to take this very potent potential biological weapon off the table. I’ll stop when we’ve achieved success, and I can feel that my career was a success. But I don’t feel I’ve succeeded yet. ARCHIVAL: Burner flame spinning D.A. Henderson (VO) Now we do have two antiviral drugs that we have finished working with. We do have a vaccine that does not appear to cause complications. We could destroy the virus. D.A. Henderson The justification that the U.S. has had was a little bit thin, to say the least. And now it’s totally gone. But they want to keep working. Errol Morris (VO) Are you suggesting that people would just keep working on something, even though there is absolutely no rational justification for it? ARCHIVAL: Laboratory freezer with smoke coming off, specimens inside freezer D.A. Henderson (VO) It’s decided that we want to keep it. Not surprisingly, there’s some suspicion on the part of countries. “Why are you working with this agent?” CG: Smallpox virus floating D.A. Henderson (VO) Here we’ve had major committees, and the people have said, “Destroy it.” Errol Morris (VO) The demon in the freezer. Is it us? Is it man? D.A. Henderson Well, that’s—that’s a good point. [laughter] ARCHIVAL: Men putting on goggles, nuclear test. Planes spray chemicals over trees. D.A. Henderson (VO) We’ve gone through the stage of developing nuclear weapons. We learned more about chemistry. We’ve got more refined chemical weapons. D.A. Henderson I think, as we get more into the biological side—and we certainly are, right now, going very, very far—I think we can anticipate we’re going to have some very complicated and very difficult problems. END