Tagged As: Health, Politics, Science, and Society

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Smallpox was officially eradicated in its naturally occurring form three decades ago. Since then, requests by the WHO to destroy remaining stockpiles have gone unheeded. Scientists have declared that eliminating the stockpiles would hinder future research if new strains were to develop. Others fear those stockpiles are being saved for use as biological weapons since the only two countries maintaining them are the United States and Russia. Is the total destruction of carefully maintained stocks a worthy endeavor?