A report by BBC Future questioned whether frozen bodies of people who had smallpox – and might have died from the disease – could release the virus into the environment.
If such a scenario did occur, it could potentially start a global pandemic.
yuck. And nowadays, few people (except for first responders in the US or the military) have smallpox immunity, since the old vaccine only lasts for 10 years or so, and they don't give it out routinely because it has a lot of side effects.
A similar question was raised when scientists defrosted some AmerIndian bodies in Alaska who died in the 1918 influenza epidemic.
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