I just learned yesterday that there’s an “Anti-Plague Research Facility” in Siberia. A young worker dropped a vial containing Pneumonic Plague and died from it a few days later. I’m not a doctor, but my understanding is that Pneumonic Plague is more deadly than its famous counterpart, Bubonic Plague, and has a nearly 100% fatality rate unless treated with antibiotics almost immediately. Over 100 people were quarantined and a second person has now died. The Kremlin, of course, has been very open and forthcoming with information. Or wait, never mind, they’re completely downplaying the situation.
Stating the obvious - should this facility actually be called the “Plague Research Facility” in Siberia"? Putin is evil. Pneumonic Plague is already lethal, imagine if it was weaponized? He’s at war with Ukraine and has already hinted that nukes aren’t off the table. Covid proved how difficult it is to contain a deadly disease and how quickly it can spread. Frankly, Russia’s history of sweeping enormous problems under the rug doesn’t give me much faith in them handling this one.
To add to the dread, that article links to a second article that Trump recently tried to access nuclear codes while dealing with a situation in Iran. A general in the room flat out told him “NO!” which pissed him off severely. Supposedly staff kept him away from the situation room during a recent hostage rescue attempt because of his volatility. The article is all speculation, but if there’s even a grain of truth (and given Trumps temperament I believe there is) then we have a mad man on the loose.
Put these 2 articles together - Putin is probably making a biological weapon while losing a war in Ukraine. Trump is losing self-control while losing a war in Iran. Trump idolizes Putin. Trump has a very poor record managing pandemics and we now have RFK Jr in charge of Health and Human Services.
Soviet efforts in biological warfare have been on the record for decades, even after the 1972 treaty. Yeltsin was supposed to have abolished it, but I think that is naive. When I worked for a biologic research institute in the late 90s there were 2 known samples of live pneumonic plague preserved in laboratories. One was in the Russia. The other was in the US. I wonder why.
The last time there was a deadly pandemic, it was the American president who urged the stopping of the counting of the number of cases. So between Putin’s reaction and a familiarity with the USA’s guy, this is potentially really bad.
If any of the reporting out of Russia can be believed in any way.
Even if we grant that Russian authorities are callous about value of life in general, I very much doubt that this individual and her colleagues would casually shrug off an incident like this and all go home that evening to their families taking no specific steps to quarantine themselves and the lab.
The first I heard of this was a YouTube video last night from David Pakman. I can’t look for it now, but my memory is that they shut down the lab immediately and quarantined over 100 employees. Of course, information is fluid right now.
My guess is that it’s both. There is a real value in keeping your citizens from dying; if they all die, you have nobody to oppress anymore. Evil does not always mean stupid.
But yeah, I don’t doubt that they’re also trying to develop weapons too. That’s the problem with biological warfare, and the reason why it’s outlawed and not just because it’s morally bad; there is no effective way to protect your own people from it. It would be like building a bomb that blows up the whole planet; it is of no use to anyone because you’re just killing yourself with it. Instead of being a tyrant, you’re a suicide bomber, and those are very different mindsets.
That being said, do I think Putin is enough of an egomaniac to think that he’s the one who can figure out how to develop a weapon like that and have it hurt enough of his enemies that he could weather some deaths from his own people? Yes, I do. So I wouldn’t be shocked to find that they have some facility experimenting with stuff, even if they aren’t actually deploying anything due to the obvious potential for self-destruction.
Good thing this Administration is cracking down on gain of function research, otherwise we’d be better equipped to defend ourselves against weaponized pathogens.
Supposedly even if you weaponize it, pneumonic plague is harder to transmit since the heavier bacteria fall to the floor faster when you exhale them vs viruses. Also there isn’t a period of asymptomatic spread before symptoms start. My understanding is that by the time there are enough bacteria to make you contagious, you have symptoms and probably aren’t walking around in public.
But who knows. The fact that Trump, Putin and Xi are among the most powerful leaders in the world really is a shitshow.
I hope the version that got released wasn’t part of gain of function research or a bioweapons program.
Yeah, that’s the worry. If or when Russians admit something has gone bad, that means it’s gone really bad and it has gone beyond the point of being able to suppress.
I predict we’ll hear from Trump soon, and he’ll say that he has spoken to Putin, and that Putin assured him that there is nothing to see here, and that Trump sees no reason to doubt the integrity of a man so admirable as Putin.
Look at the bright side. Even if it kills every living thing in and around the facility, it will be isolated in Siberia with a Russian winter soon to arrive. It even may voluntarily return to containment to avoid freezing to death.