• Forgotten vials of smallpox found in NIH store room
    17 replies, posted
[quote]Scientists last week discovered several vials of smallpox — one of the deadliest diseases known to man — in an unused storage room at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials say there's no health risk from the vials — either to NIH employees or the public. The vials of smallpox, which apparently date from the 1950s, were "immediately secured" in a CDC containment lab, according to a CDC statement. NIH officials alerted the CDC about the smallpox July 1. Smallpox killed about one-third of its victims. It devastated populations around the world for at least 3,000 years until being officially eradicated by vaccines in 1980. There is ongoing concern that smallpox could be used in a bioterrorist attack. The smallpox samples were found in a lab run by the Food and Drug Administration. Scientists discovered the vials when preparing to move to the FDA's main campus in Silver Spring, Md...[/quote] [url]http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/08/forgotten-vials-of-smallpox-found-in-storage-room/12363365/[/url]
Given the amount of secrecy over bioweapons during the cold war, I'm rather not surprised. However you'd think atleast some record of them would be kept instead of handing it to the janitorial staff.
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;45328821]Given the amount of secrecy over bioweapons during the cold war, I'm rather not surprised. However you'd think atleast some record of them would be kept instead of handing it to the janitorial staff.[/QUOTE] Smallpox was only eradicated by the 80s, it wasn't necessarily a bio-weapon in the 50s.
Whats next? A few barrels of bubonic plague in the ol' Bethesda Public Children's Library?
[QUOTE=JCDentonUNATCO;45328869]Whats next? A few barrels of bubonic plague in the ol' Bethesda Public Children's Library?[/QUOTE] Eh. I don't wanna be that guy, but plague isn't really that big a deal. It still exists in African shitholes and the American Southwest, and it's very treatable. Smallpox is a big deal because it doesn't exist in nature anymore, and we want to keep it that way. Whatever, wouldn't be surprised if you knew this anyway.
[QUOTE=JCDentonUNATCO;45328869]Whats next? A few barrels of bubonic plague in the ol' Bethesda Public Children's Library?[/QUOTE] the thing with small pox is not the fact that there is little immunity to it and although that doesnt help matters the real danger is that small pox is a virus which means most of our modern medicines do not effect it unlike plague which is a bacteria.
[QUOTE=yodaman888;45329183]the thing with small pox is not the fact that there is little immunity to it and although that doesnt help matters the real danger is that small pox is a virus which means most of our modern medicines do not effect it unlike plague which is a bacteria.[/QUOTE] Add on the fact we eradicated nearly all natural strains of the virus. All it takes is for one of those incubated bugs in the vials to mutate and pretty much you've got something deadly running around again.
[QUOTE=Reagy;45329338]Add on the fact we eradicated nearly all natural strains of the virus. All it takes is for one of those incubated bugs in the vials to mutate and pretty much you've got something deadly running around again.[/QUOTE] this is terrifying
[QUOTE][B]Bethesda[/B] [/QUOTE] oh shit they had vials of smallpox lying around
Eh, I've been stockpiling that shit since the 60s. Hit me up if you want a couple jars.
It amazes me how we just manage to lose stuff like this and then just find it in a relatively insecure place later. Could you imagine if the wrong person found it first and released it in a subway station, or dripped it over food at a popular buffet?
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;45330219]It amazes me how we just manage to lose stuff like this and then just find it in a relatively insecure place later. Could you imagine if the wrong person found it first and released it in a subway station, or dripped it over food at a popular buffet?[/QUOTE] Well if someone was infected in a subway station that would be infectious but if you put it in someones food at a buffet it might have little to not effect.
The sample hasn't even been confirmed to have been viable yet, and sixty years is a long time. There's a fair chance this stuff was essentially harmless for a long time, especially if it wasn't stored correctly.
[QUOTE=Camundongo;45333641]The sample hasn't even been confirmed to have been viable yet, and sixty years is a long time. There's a fair chance this stuff was essentially harmless for a long time, especially if it wasn't stored correctly.[/QUOTE] Doesn't fucking matter, it could have been stolen at any point between when it got put in that storage room and now. If no one even had announced that it was missing someone needs to be jailed for this.
[QUOTE=Reagy;45329338]Add on the fact we eradicated nearly all natural strains of the virus. All it takes is for one of those incubated bugs in the vials to mutate and pretty much you've got something deadly running around again.[/QUOTE] The key word here is "nearly". As far as i remember, US and Russia still have their strains, and there is a little chance that virus would mutate without any reason.
[QUOTE=antianan;45335729]The key word here is "nearly". As far as i remember, US and Russia still have their strains, and there is a little chance that virus would mutate without any reason.[/QUOTE]Afaik the reason smallpox was eradicated so effectively is that it's propensity to mutate is so unusually low compared to any other virus.
[I]maryland[/I]
[QUOTE=Crimor;45335698]Doesn't fucking matter, it could have been stolen at any point between when it got put in that storage room and now. If no one even had announced that it was missing someone needs to be jailed for this.[/QUOTE] Of course it matters. If it's still viable, it's a health risk. If it's not, this isn't a big deal.
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