Oops! We seemed to have misplaced some Smallpox

Good day all. A few days ago I wrote about one Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka and how he thought it was a fine idea to essentially weaponize the flu virus. At the time, the virus in question was sort of under lock and key. Well, just a day or so later, a story came out about some vials being found that contained Smallpox.

Smallpox is a really nasty virus that has killed hundreds of millions of people. It’s also the first disease to have been completely wiped out by modern medicine. The only known examples of the virus are locked in secure labs in the United States, (The Center for Disease Control), and in Russia. Or so it was thought. Last week workers cleaning out an old storeroom found a box of vials containing the Smallpox virus. Here are the terrifying details from Fox News:

Government workers cleaning out an old storage room at a research center near Washington made a startling discovery last week – decades-old vials of smallpox packed away and forgotten in a cardboard box. The six glass vials of freeze-dried virus were intact and sealed with melted glass, and the virus may well have been dead, because it wasn’t kept cold over the years, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Now I don’t know anything about how the virus works, but if it was kept in a sealed, air tight container, it might still be alive and viable. Frankly, I just want them to toss the box into the nearest furnace and burn the whole thing to ash.

Still, the find was disturbing because for decades after smallpox was declared eradicated in the 1980s, world health authorities believed the only samples left were safely stored in super-secure laboratories in Atlanta and in Russia.

Disturbing? Ya think? This is one of the “scenarios” used in novels where a biohazard is found and then either kills millions of people or turns them into zombies.

Officials said this is the first time that unaccounted-for smallpox has been discovered.

Oh that’s comforting. “Yes, it was the first time. We’re sure it wont’ happen again, so don’t worry your pretty little heads over it.” Excuse me, but I fully intend to worry, thank you very much.

The smallpox virus samples were found in a building at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, that has been used by the Food and Drug Administration since 1972, according to the CDC. Officials said the vials may have been stored there since the 1950s – no records were found that said exactly when they were placed there.

Those records are probably with Lois Lerner’s email.

No one has been infected, and no smallpox contamination was found in the building.

I wonder how many times that box was moved around? I wonder how many times some low paid idiot dropped it or tossed something on top of it? I think the words “Blind luck” would apply to these vials still being intact.

Smallpox can be deadly even after it is freeze-dried, but the virus usually has to be kept cold to remain alive and dangerous. These vials were stored for many years at room temperature, said Stephan Monroe, deputy director of the CDC center that handles highly dangerous infectious agents.

“We don’t yet know if it’s live and infectious. It’s possible it could be inactivated because of long length of storage,” he said.

So, would you be willing to crack open those vials and snort the contents Mr. Monroe? No? I didn’t think so.

The samples were rushed to the CDC in Atlanta and will undergo up to two weeks of testing to establish whether they are dead, Monroe said. Then they will be destroyed.

And we will be informed if it is found the virus in these vials is still viable, right? (That was a sarcastic remark. Of course they wont’ say anything one way or the other)

The labs have the highest possible security measures. Scientists who work with the virus use fingerprint or retinal scans to get inside, wear full-body suits including gloves and goggles, and shower with strong disinfectant before leaving the labs.

So, these labs are places that Dr. Doom Kawaoka doesn’t have access to? Howe about if he comes within a hundred miles of either of these labs, someone shoots him? What I want to know is why this virus still exists, even in a secure lab?

There has long been debate about whether to destroy the known samples. Many scientists argue the deadly virus should be definitively wiped off the planet and believe any remaining samples pose a threat. Others argue the samples are needed for research on better treatments and vaccines.

So, on one hand we have responsible scientists who understand that this stuff is dangerous and should be obliterated, and on the other hand we have more mad scientists in the Dr. Kawaoka mold who think we should keep it around, “Just in case.” I don’t think so!

At its recent annual meeting in May, the member countries of the World Health Organization decided once again to delay a decision.

Perhaps it’s time the political leadership, (Excepting Obama of course), should just come in and make the decision for these clowns. Question to Russia and the United States. “This crap is dangerous. It exists nowhere else on earth. Should we destroy it?” As much as Putin is a thug and Obama is a moron, I think they could agree that this goop needs to go. The problem is, I don’t see this happening anytime soon, if ever. Now if you will excuse me, I need to check on my order for those Biohazard suits.

Thatisall

~The Angry Webmaster~

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