Was there not a debate recently on wether to dispose of the last vials of smallpox because there would be no need to produce a vaccine as the virus had been eradicated.....
Not sure where I read it, or heard from someone, but it was about how some such similar disease (maybe even smallpox) that produces scabs and how someone found a scab from it in a library manuscript. This is somewhat similar.
Wikipedia: "In March 2004 smallpox scabs were found tucked inside an envelope in a book on Civil War medicine in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The envelope was labeled as containing scabs from a vaccination and gave scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an opportunity to study the history of smallpox vaccination in the U.S."
I don't recall that. I do remember an article recently about recreating Spanish Flu in the laboratory. It's very controversial because it spread quickly and killed millions of people in a really short time span.
For smallpox, some believe it's possible it may still exist somewhere cold frozen in ice. I don't know how credible that threat is though.
