# Plague in Russia **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 6, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622 "2026-10-06T16:58:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/21 "2026-10-07T18:26:34Z")
HA!! That zinger wins the prize! LOL ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/22 "2026-10-07T20:28:21Z")
Just for the record, we have a vaccine for plague, and it responds well to antibiotics, barring conspiracy theory levels of ‘weaponization’, it’s not that worrisome. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/23 "2026-10-07T21:15:12Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > …and it responds well to antibiotics, barring conspiracy theory levels of ‘weaponization’, it’s not that worrisome. Having confidence that Trump’s government has stockpiled enough antibiotics, and that the same government will dispense them efficiently and humanely, is a bridge too far for most well-informed people. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/24 "2026-10-07T21:42:55Z")
Most well-informed people would know that plague is already found in western North America. About 10 cases a year pop up in the US. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/25 "2026-10-07T21:56:09Z")
Bubonic plague is endemic in the rodent population in N. Arizona. But, Pneumonic plague is a different kettle of bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/26 "2026-10-07T22:13:14Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > But, Pneumonic plague is a different kettle of bacteria. God I wish you’d said “altogether” at the end of that sentence. “Pneumonic plague is a different kettle of bacteria.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/27 "2026-10-07T22:19:22Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > There’s that creeping dread feeling again … There it is again… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ObOqq1knVxs/maxresdefault.jpg "That Funny Feeling -- Bo Burnham (from "Inside")") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObOqq1knVxs) Can someone explain to me how a country can unleash a deadly disease on another country without everyone else getting sick all over the planet? As a warfare tactic it just doesn’t make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/28 "2026-10-07T22:30:13Z")
Which is why it’s rarely been attempted in modern times. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/29 "2026-10-07T22:41:04Z")
Yup, as I said: > [@Atamasama](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/30 "2026-10-07T22:45:54Z")
So I just don’t think it’s likely Russia would do that, on that basis alone. The Trump thing on the other hand seems plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/31 "2026-10-07T22:50:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Bubonic plague is endemic in the rodent population in N. Arizona. > > But, Pneumonic plague is a different kettle of bacteria. Yeah, but it pops up very occasionally [as it did last year in Arizona](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/plague-kills-arizona-resident-health-officials-say/). It’s all the same critter, it just depends on the source of the infection and/or the course the disease takes. Basically an untreated bubonic plague victim (human or animal) can have it invade the lungs and turn pneumonic (or the blood vessels and turn septicemic), potentially causing an explosion in spread and overall virulence. But potentially is the key word. That poor guy who died in Arizona didn’t start an epidemic, he just died. Even if he had as noted normal plague epidemics are “easy” to shut down in this day and age. It might get a few folks in a small locale, but it won’t run hogwild through the country. Of course an engineered “super-plague” immune to antibiotics might be a different story… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/32 "2026-10-07T22:53:58Z")
How fucking unlucky do you have to be to die of Plague in the US in 2025? If the guy wasn’t totally out of his mind I can only imagine what was running through his head. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/33 "2026-10-07T22:55:30Z")
When I go to the Grand Canyon, I see idiot tourists feeding the Rock Squirrels (despite the signs everywhere saying not to feed the wildlife) all the time. I say “they carry the plague, you know” as I pass… ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/34 "2026-10-07T23:08:41Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Just for the record, we have a vaccine for plague, and it responds well to antibiotics, barring conspiracy theory levels of ‘weaponization’, it’s not that worrisome. Its impossible to know at this point what research was being done on the plague. If there was gain of function research, or if it was designed to be antibiotic resistant as part of a weapons program that could cause issues. Putins Russia is not a nation I’d consider trustworthy or moral on these issues. It won’t be as bad as covid, but at this point theres no telling what all this could mean. Hopefully its a localized situation that responds to quarantines and antibiotics. But we don’t know enough. Also the vaccine only works on bubonic plague, not pneumonic plague from what I know. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/35 "2026-10-07T23:10:48Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Can someone explain to me how a country can unleash a deadly disease on another country without everyone else getting sick all over the planet? > > As a warfare tactic it just doesn’t make sense to me. My understanding is biological weapons are generally designed to be extremely deadly and debilitating, as well as resistant to treatments, but to have a fairly low R0 to prevent a worldwide pandemic. So you can poison the air or water supply without it spreading beyond that area. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/36 "2026-10-08T00:15:41Z")
See: anthrax. Deadly in aerosolized form, but doesn’t really spread well from person to person, so you can kill people with it without worrying about infecting your own troops, etc. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/37 "2026-10-08T01:23:21Z")
Bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic plague are all caused by the same _yersinia pestis_ bacterium, it’s just about what part of your body it gets a foothold on. The early vaccine, in use since 1890, was _less_ effective against pneumonic, but live-attenuated and recombinant versions have since been developed. We’ve had some cases in California, at lake Tahoe and Yosemite over the last decade, but no fatalities IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/38 "2026-10-08T01:31:26Z")
Trump ALLEGEDLY had COVID. Who knows what goes on with that guy, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/39 "2026-10-08T01:35:53Z")
In the book (this doesn’t really justify a spoiler alert), “we” know something happened at the plague lab when “we” saw the satellite images, with the damaged building and lots of vehicles moving around. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622/40 "2026-10-08T01:38:50Z")
In late 2001, VH-1 had a metal program hosted by Anthrax bassist Scott Ian, and I caught him, LIVE, while channel-surfing, and he was explaining that [Anthrax.com](http://Anthrax.com) was not a brand-new gimmick - that the band chose the name about 20 years earlier when they were teenagers. They were getting a lot of angry feedback in this regard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-in-russia/1033622.md?page=3)