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| US to Keep its Smallpox Stash? |
| 2011-01-18 |
| The U.S. and Russia will fight international efforts this week to set a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of smallpox, saying the deadly virus is needed for research to combat bioterrorism. The U.S. says it needs to maintain the virus samples to develop new drugs and vaccines to counter a potential bioterror attack or accidental release of smallpox from an unsanctioned stock. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #5 It can't go elsewhere if it is dead. If it is not dead it might. Kill it, now. The only argument to keep it is to make other humans, with their own stash of these things, worry that we could use it on them, if they used it on us. But if they used it on us, then we would have lots of it handy to share with them. We do not need it. Let it go. This thing is not our friend. If given a chance, it would kill us. Without mercy or remorse. |
| Posted by: rammer 2011-01-18 23:35 |
| #4 you assume it's gone elsewhere. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-01-18 22:52 |
| #3 Destroy it. Offer vaccines to those few, who are uncomfortable with it being gone. The horror that would ensue should it ever escape, now that the world is more crowded and most people are not vaccinated, is beyond your imagination. Tens of millions would die in the first months. Hundreds of millions more would be killed before it could be stamped out. This is like a nuclear accident -- a thing with low probability but huge impact. We must drive the probability as close to 0 as possible. Smallpox delenda est. |
| Posted by: rammer 2011-01-18 22:27 |
| #2 we also should never assume that our "Trust, but verify, and have a contingency plan" Sun Frank G Tzu |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-01-18 20:29 |
| #1 "The adapted virus that immunized hundreds of millions of people against smallpox has now been enlisted in the war on cancer. Vaccinia poxvirus joins a herpesvirus and a host of other pathogens on a growing list of engineered viruses entering late-stage human testing against cancer." To explain: Smallpox, cowpox and vaccinia are all believed to have a common ancestor. However they diverged to become radically different, yet retain some characteristics. Unlike many other viruses, they do have DNA, not just RNA, and have interacted with the human immune system for an estimated 10,000 years. It can truly be said that eradicating smallpox would be as potentially dangerous as eradicating a pest insect, such as the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which we almost did with DDT. In a few generations, humans might actually start experiencing an immune system malfunction from the absence of smallpox infection. Theoretical, I know, but it is a potent, evolved organism of sorts, and once it's gone, it's gone. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-01-18 20:21 |