I thought smallpox was eradicated completely?...
It still lives in sections of Central and South America as well as Third world countries who are sending their citizens to the US as illegal immigrants who pay to be smuggled across the US/Mexico border. They are also bringing in other diseases that were thought to be eradicated 20 years ago in the nation.
It was...decades ago. Democrats are preparing cures for their soon to be released next pandemic.
Nope it is in labs and graves around the world. Only a matter of time before it gets out.
"Naturally" occurring, it was. The last known case occurring in Somalia in 1977.
Some interesting history:
The origin of smallpox is unknown. The finding of smallpox-like rashes on Egyptian mummies suggests that smallpox has existed for at least 3,000 years. The earliest written description of a disease like smallpox appeared in China in the 4th century CE (Common Era). Early written descriptions also appeared in India in the 7th century and in Asia Minor in the 10th century.https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html...
By the time the Intensified Eradication Program began in 1967, smallpox was already eliminated in North America (1952) and Europe (1953). Cases were still occurring in South America, Asia, and Africa (smallpox was never widespread in Australia). The Program made steady progress toward ridding the world of this disease, and by 1971 smallpox was eradicated from South America, followed by Asia (1975), and finally Africa (1977).
It was in the wild. Unfortunately, the Soviets continued to play with it as a bioweapon, and made a very large quantity of it in liquid form. Then they lost track of some of it, they claim, during a move, and so cannot account for all of what was made.
There is reason to believe they conducted an open air test of it in 1971 when a smallpox outbreak occurred in Kazachstan, which is where their biolab was that produced it. They frantically reacted like the Chinese later did with Covid to contain it, but some people did get it.
Tissue samples from that incident ended up in the hands of scientist Nelja N. Maltseva who took it to study in a lab in Moscow.
Problem is, she was known to travel to places like Iran, Iraq and Syria. And she is deceased so can no longer be interviewed about those travels and whether or not tissue samples traveled with her.