Plague is already happening in Southern Africa (because somehow citizens of Madagascar think it’s a good idea to dig up corpses and dance with them) — it’s Pneumonic Plague, which is a worse respiratory manifestation of the same bacteria that cause Bubonic Plague.
We should be safe from Smallpox — my understanding was that after it was eradicated, the USA and USSR each kept one of the remaining two samples. So if it gets back into the wild, it means either the Russians let it back out... or we did.
I believe it has been found Smallpox is still alive in the Eskimo victims buried in permafrost, same for the 1918 Flu victims.
Then there is live virus found in an abandoned lab a few years back. No one knows how many other vials are floating around out there.
During the Brazil Olympics, they found small pox in the sewers.
Some doc friends I drink with say “It is still in the wild, but not much of it”.
An outbreak now would be a slate cleaner.
Not so sure on the smallpox. My family’s farm in Hart Co. , KY, tested for it. They couldn’t excavate the Indian camp that was there because it tested positive for smallpox.
Plague is endemic in many areas of the world, including the US. However, we avoid activities that might expose us to it. Nevertheless, a few Americans every year contract it.