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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: Lane3 who wrote (60175)8/13/2004 8:10:28 PM
From: unclewest  Read Replies (3) of 793906
 
One of the mitigating factors with smallpox is that, although it may spread quickly, only the first wave of victims, those who contract it before the outbreak is recognized, is at the worst risk. After that, those already infected can be vaccinated after the fact and reduce their risk considerably.

You are tap-dancing around this issue and misinforming people.
At first you said incorrectly that Smallpox was curable. Now you are defining those at risk and the solution incorrectly.

I recall distinctly:
that the incubation period is up to 14 days.
That the vaccine works to some degree if you take it within 72 hours of exposure.
That leaves a little time gap.
5% of those exposed and who had the vaccine properly and timely administered will still die. The mortality rate increases quickly after that.

The bio threat is real and cannot be quickly dismissed. And it is not confined to ebola and smallpox. The tiniest dose of Type A Botulinal toxin is deadly. Tens of thousands in a confined sports arena could be quickly and easily infected with anthrax. My point is the potential bio weapons coupled with disbursement scenarios are endless and they can easily involve huge numbers of people.

I do not believe it is a threat that should be ignored any more than your nuclear scenario. At an individual level there are a number of things that can be done in advance to increase survival.

You judge the nuke risk to be high...I could ask why and remind you America has never been nuked. I think the bio risk is high and could tell you about several bio weapon attacks that have already occurred in America.

I see no point in minimizing the bio-risk in favor of taking action against the nuclear risk because we can defend against both.
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