SYDNEY, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- A mock bioterrorism exercise held at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia concluded on Tuesday that the difference between a contained outbreak and a global pandemic is preparation.

Conducted from Aug. 16 to Aug. 17, the scenario involved a hypothetical outbreak of smallpox in Fiji, designed to test authorities preparedness for such an event, specifically in the Pacific region.

Involved were key international representatives from departments of health, foreign affairs, defence, police, non-government agencies, vaccine manufacturers and other global stakeholders.

One of the architects of the hypothetical attack was Prof. Raina MacIntyre, head of the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Systems for Epidemic Response at UNSW.

"Even though the world successfully eradicated smallpox in 1980, the disease has been on the radar again since scientists used mail order DNA to create a virus very similar to smallpox in a lab in 2017," MacIntyre said.

Smallpox is spread through the air and is twice as infectious as Ebola or influenza, with a predicted death rate of 45 percent if it emerged on Tuesday.

"In the case of a biowarfare event, our modelling shows that without a rapid and coordinated response, the epidemic would quickly spiral out of control and become a pandemic," MacIntyre said.

Projections show that first responders would need to isolate 70 percent of smallpox patients and track and vaccinate 70 percent of their contacts.

If this was to fall as low as 53 percent it would take four years and 2 billion doses of vaccine to bring the epidemic under control, with current World Health Organization vaccine stockpiles at 35 million doses.

Even though in such a situation vaccines could be diluted and utilized, according to MacIntyre, "resources to effect large scale isolation and quarantine would be the main problem."

"In a globalized world, disease pathogens do not carry national passports, neither do they respect state sovereignty," said attendee Obijiofor Aginam, deputy director of the International Institute for Global Health.

"The International Health Regulations offer an opportunity for effective governance of emerging and re-emerging epidemics and pandemics in an interdependent world." Enditem

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