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by hu3 1916 days ago
Curious, what virus we eradicated?
4 comments

Smallpox. I think we're close on polio?
We're getting there but it's super hard to do it in remote areas and conflict regions.

https://www.gatesnotes.com/health/in-pakistan-victory-agains...

Smallpox. Except for some samples in secure laboratories.
Smallpox and Rinderpest.

Polio and Measles are doable, and at this point more logistical and political problems than biological ones.

The “logistical” and “political” problems being that they’re endemic in countries with major political and economic instability, where the locals have a bad tendency to kill the people doing the vaccinations.

It isn’t a trivial problem. And oh yeah: Covid is in those countries now, too.

I never said they were trivial, and have argued exactly the opposite elsewhere. But it remains that they are logistical and political challenges, not biological ones.
Smallpox.