The female staffer at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East died from a “pneumonia of undetermined” origin last week, according to a regional governor.
I don’t think they would use smallpox. It’s way too infectious and would get out of control fast. It would end up fucking over the Russians as much as the Ukrainians. At least that’s what I hope but at this point I can’t really predict what would happen.
I think that if a belligerent were to use the disease as a biological weapon, it would first secretly stockpile large quantities of vaccine. Once the disease breaks out, there would be a window of opportunity lasting a few weeks to a few months during which one could gain an advantage, because the enemy would first have to ramp up vaccine production and vaccination rates.
When I think about it, however, I have serious doubts as to whether such preparations in the 21st century could be kept secret enough to actually surprise the enemy (in this case, the West).
Assuming it’s the base smallpox virus. Both the Russians and Americans have experimented with it since the cold war. We have no idea what they could have done to it in the meantime.
But yea, a sudden program of smallpox vaccinations would spoil the plan pretty fast. So at least that’s a relief.
I don’t think they would use smallpox. It’s way too infectious and would get out of control fast. It would end up fucking over the Russians as much as the Ukrainians. At least that’s what I hope but at this point I can’t really predict what would happen.
There are effective vaccines against smallpox.
I think that if a belligerent were to use the disease as a biological weapon, it would first secretly stockpile large quantities of vaccine. Once the disease breaks out, there would be a window of opportunity lasting a few weeks to a few months during which one could gain an advantage, because the enemy would first have to ramp up vaccine production and vaccination rates. When I think about it, however, I have serious doubts as to whether such preparations in the 21st century could be kept secret enough to actually surprise the enemy (in this case, the West).
Assuming it’s the base smallpox virus. Both the Russians and Americans have experimented with it since the cold war. We have no idea what they could have done to it in the meantime.
But yea, a sudden program of smallpox vaccinations would spoil the plan pretty fast. So at least that’s a relief.