smallpox it killed 500 million people in the twentieth century. To be prepared against a bioterrorist attack, the US organized Operation Dark Winter These frightening data are part of the advertising campaign to promote The Division. But there is no doubt that the simulator contains a question that has intrigued us for decades. How soon virus completely destroy humanity? The question is not trivial, since smallpox killed over 500 million people in the twentieth century. Its erradicación, achieved in 1979 was a turning point in the defense of public health and an example to follow in the fight against diseases such as polio.

The long shadow of smallpox, however, still planning on our planet. And it is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) of the United States and the Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology harbor Russia, respectively, 450 and 150 samples of smallpox. Two years ago, six abandoned with the virus vials were found in a US laboratory. Samples that, if stolen, could become terrible biological weapons as proposed by the simulator Ubisoft. What would happen in this case? Are we as a civilization ready to face the return of smallpox? To answer these questions, American researchers conducted in June 2011 the Operation Dark Winter. This simulation has served precisely to inspire the creators of the game.

Who designed the simulation?

Four institutions were responsible for designing the game that is based The Division. The Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies , in collaboration with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Analytic Services Institute for Homeland Security (ANSER) and Oklahoma National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism , developed a simulation to study the responses that might arise before a bioterrorist attack.

Twelve participants of Operation Dark Winter interpreted to members of the US National Security representing people who worked or had worked in political office or high-level military. In the simulation, Sam Nunn, former senator from Georgia, and Frank Keating, governor of Oklahoma, acted as if they were the US president and the leader himself Oklahoma State. In addition, five journalists worked as observers Operation Dark Winter, also participating in a fictional press conference. Finally, also they attended approximately fifty people who had anteriorly operational responsibilities or policies related to the control and prevention of bioterrorism.

What was Operation Dark Winter?

As explained in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases , the simulation consisted to raise a fictional scenario to participants. In that sense, the spread of 3,000 people with smallpox virus have occurred after three simultaneous attacks on three separate shopping centers Oklahoma City, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Previous estimates had indicated that one gram of extract smallpox virus would be enough to infect a hundred people. According to these calculations, with only thirty grams of smallpox virus could recreate that fictional scenario. Simulation of Dark Winter has inspired the creators of The Division

the aim of the simulation was therefore propose political strategies to carry out if there was an attack with biological weapons. And it is that the challenges are extremely complex: not exactly known transmission rate, most people under 30 are not vaccinated against smallpox and doctors have not seen cases of infection against this virus. Based on these challenges, Operation Dark Winter suggested that more than 228 million US citizens were likely to be infected.

Where contagions were developed?

Three separate and unrelated Oklahoma City malls, Philadelphia and Atlanta would be simulated attack scenarios where this would take place. An attack would cause the initial spread of fifty people but, as shown in the following maps, go spreading unstoppably. The situation is similar to that proposed advertisers The Division with the simulator Collapse, as seen in the following images: