Date published
Terrifying "Exercise Mataika" Smallpox Simulation Did Not End Well For Humanity
Smallpox has been responsible for up to a billion deaths since it emerged around 10,000 BC, before it was finally eradicated by a worldwide vaccination program. Since 1977 we have been smallpox-free.
The only samples of smallpox left are kept under guard at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Vector Institute in Russia, and World Health Organization (WHO) laboratories.
Yay science.
However, bad news, in 2017 Canadian researchers were able to make a smallpox-like vaccine in the laboratory, raising concerns that bioterrorists could themselves synthesize a virus and unleash it on an unprepared population.
Goddamnit science.