3 ms·
Similarly smallpox has been completely eradicated, but USA and Russia like to keep around a few live samples, "for research". Whatever will wipe us all out in t
by bondarchuk 6y ago
Similarly smallpox has been completely eradicated, but USA and Russia like to keep around a few live samples, "for research". Whatever will wipe us all out in the end, we probably had it coming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_virus_retention_debate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_virus_retention_debat...
- bbatha 6y agoIt’s substantially more complicated than that smallpox samples keep turning up in the US [1][2]. Who knows how many samples were lost in the chaos of the fall of the Soviet Union. Smallpox was in every country on earth until relatively recently simply destroying samples isn’t enough. Hanging onto them in case we need a new vaccine is absolutely prudent. https://www.wired.com/2014/07/cdc-found-pox/ https://www.wired.com/2014/07/cdc-found-pox/ https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/blog/scab-story https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/blog/scab-story
- bondarchuk 6y agoIf there is an actual outbreak that we need a vaccine for, we can just get new samples from the infected, right?