The global organization decided to wait three more years to decide about what to do with the remains of the virus that once devastated the globe, the AP reports. Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, according to the United Nations, and officials have debated what to do with the live strains in the years since. Countries have put off the destruction of the virus in light of possible biological warfare that might someday happen — if, for instance, unknown strains of smallpox survive beyond these stockpiles, the U.S., Russia, and other nations might require these samples to help stop the spread.