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> [Trump's] retreat, they add, could end decades in which the agency directed the management of smallpox virus remnants in an American-held cache. > Health exp
by thaumasiotes 2y ago
> [Trump's] retreat, they add, could end decades in which the agency directed the management of smallpox virus remnants in an American-held cache.
> Health experts say discontinuation of the W.H.O.’s oversight threatens to damage precautions against the virus leaking into the world, and to disrupt research on countermeasures against the lethal disease.
Why would we need research on smallpox countermeasures? We know everything about smallpox prevention. It's one of the all-time great successes of medicine. It gave us the word "vaccine".
- aaroninsf 2y agoIs this is a serious question...? The serious answer, if so, is a) because variants may emerge from reservoirs at any time, and more pressingly in the current global shit-show, b) because it's a biological weapon.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago> because variants may emerge from reservoirs at any time That is how we prevent smallpox.
- readthenotes1 2y agoThe accidental bio weapon feature is a reason to leave it be. Just because we can doesn't mean we should