93-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

Today is Wednesday, November 17th.

Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning.

Several vials labeled smallpox were found at a vaccine research facility in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

There is no indication that anyone was exposed to the small number of frozen vials.

The CDC said in a statement emailed to CNN. The frozen vials labeled smallpox were incidentally discovered at a laboratory, by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that

conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania. CDC, its administration partners, the law enforcement,

and are investigating the matter, and the vials contents appear intact. The CDC added,

the laboratory worker who discovered the vials was wearing gloves and a mask. We will provide

further details

as they are available. According to Yahoo News, which cited an alert sent to Department of Homeland

Security leadership, the vials were reportedly found in a freezer Monday at a Merck facility

outside of Philadelphia. The closest Merck facility to Philadelphia is in North Wales, although

it's not confirmed that that is the location.

Smallpox, also known as Varyola, was declared eradicated in 1980 by the World Health Organization

after a concerted global vaccination effort. Before that, the virus, which passes easily from person

to person, affected 15 million people a year and killed about 30% of them. The last known outbreak

in the United States was in

1947. In 2014, employees of the National Institute of Health found six vials of smallpox in an

unused storage room at a Bethesda Maryland facility. Two of the vials contained viable virus.

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