# Smallpox any other deadly airborne disease question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659 "2005-02-06T15:57:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LookingAround](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@LookingAround](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LookingAround)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659/1 "2005-02-06T15:57:27Z")
If someone was too be infected with smallpox or another deadly disease, knowingly or unknowingly, and go too a large gathering like the SB can they train K9 dogs to sniff it out or do they have any other means of capturing said person before they enter the gathering? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659/2 "2005-02-06T17:34:09Z")
In the case of the smallpox, the dog would have to be right next to the infected person and be coughing on the dog. I always thought it was machines that did the chemical “sniffing”, not dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659/3 "2005-02-06T18:46:31Z")
There **are** mechanisms to detect _sprayed_ bioweapons, in dense clouds. There **are not** , to my best knowledge, any devices that could pick a person out of a crowd, & say “This person is infected with Disease X”. If there _were_, we’d be using them in hospitals to cut medical costs. If there is somebody at the Super Bowl that has been turned into a Human Bioweapon Cannister, we ain’t gonna know until it’s much too late. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659/4 "2005-02-06T18:52:18Z")
No, “they” (whoever “they” are) don’t. ---
**Author:** ![muhphd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@muhphd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muhphd)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659/5 "2013-09-17T06:13:24Z")
obviously an old thread but still scary stuff ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallpox-any-other-deadly-airborne-disease-question/288659/6 "2013-09-17T07:04:08Z")
**Moderator Action** Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, **muhphd**. As you’ve noted, this is a very old thread. Since it is so old, many of the thread’s original participants are likely no longer around to participate in the discussion. We tend to refer to old threads like this that have been revived as zombies, which tends to lead to several zombie jokes after such a revival. While we don’t mind zombies, we do ask that threads only be revived if there is new information or something relevant to be added to the discussion. Since nothing new has been added to this discussion, I am going to close this thread.