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Nearly 200 people under observation after Irkutsk lab worker dies from plague

212 points · 187 comments · ericmay

  1. ungreased0675 · · focus · HN ↗
    Are we fairly confident that these labs do more good than the risk they present to the public? I’m not sure we should be keeping dangerous pathogens around just for giggles and PhD papers. What are examples of how the research done in these places improves public health?
    1. cyberax · · focus · HN ↗
      Plague exists naturally. It's not some kind of a movie-land bioweapon McGuffin. The US has half a dozen cases of plague each year.

      Russia did a lot of work to control the plague with anti-plague vaccinations of cattle and pets, resulting in almost no human plague cases. This obviously requires research and development for vaccines.

      BTW, same applies to anthrax. It also exists naturally, which surprises a lot of people.

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