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

229 points · 208 comments · ericmay

  1. robmusial · · focus · HN ↗
    I literally just finished Annie Jacobsen's book 'Biological War: A Scenario' last week where the central plot point is an accidental release of modified form of pneumonic plague from a lab in Siberia. Very coincidental timing, especially since it made me wonder how often labs like these have accidents and we never hear about them because it is cleaned up without issue.
    1. petcat · · focus · HN ↗
      > made me wonder how often labs like these have accidents and we never hear about them because it is cleaned up without issue.

      Did anyone ever confirm if the lab in Wuhan China was the originator of COVID? I remember that was a rumor but never heard if there was anything to it.

      1. lumost · · focus · HN ↗
        I recently heard a scientist use a phrase something along the lines of “when two extraordinarily improbably events occur together, there is probably a connection”.

        We’ll never know if the lab in Wuhan originated the virus. But it is awfully strange that the first patients of a novel pandemic coronavirus were workers at a lab conducting gain of function research on coronavirus.

        1. aliljet · · focus · HN ↗
          Were they first patients?
          1. jijji · · focus · HN ↗
            Well, according to some reports, the first reported incidents happened in November 2019 and the months prior, from people who worked at Wuhan Institute of Virology (according to US government sources) [0]. Those people were: Ben Hu, Yu Ping, Zhu Yan.

            [0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.public.news&#x2F;p&#x2F;first-people-sickened-by-covid-19" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.public.news&#x2F;p&#x2F;first-people-sickened-by-covid-19

            1. bulbar · · focus · HN ↗
              Normally, I would count that as a strong signal that the origin was said lab. But with the current government, I don&#x27;t think such a report in isolation should be considered as strong evidence. The US is not trustworthy at the moment.
              1. nostrademons · · focus · HN ↗
                It wasn&#x27;t the current government. The statement was published at the tail end of the first Trump administration but the Biden administration continued to say they had serious questions about the lab leak hypothesis.
                1. adrian_b · · focus · HN ↗
                  Another poster above has quoted the declassified US intelligence report and the conclusion was that any connection with the lab was very unlikely.
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