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cover of episode Lab Leak: Could Smallpox Come Back?

Lab Leak: Could Smallpox Come Back?

2025/5/9
logo of podcast Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

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讲述者:我将讲述1966年和1978年伯明翰大学发生的两次天花病毒感染事件。1966年,一位医学摄影师Tony感染了天花,病毒的来源和传播途径不明确,但与伯明翰大学的实验室存在关联。尽管当时认为病毒传播需要密切接触,但Tony的案例引发了人们对实验室安全问题的思考。12年后,另一位医学摄影师Janet Parker感染了天花,这再次引发了人们对实验室安全问题的关注。这次事件导致了实验室负责人Henry Bedsen的死亡,并引发了广泛的调查和讨论。调查人员试图确定病毒的传播途径,但结论存在争议,有多种说法。最终,政府对伯明翰大学提起诉讼,指控其未能确保工作场所的安全。这些事件凸显了实验室安全的重要性,以及即使小心谨慎,也可能存在疏忽的可能性。同时,这些事件也提醒我们,在进行危险性研究时,必须确保其价值与风险相匹配。

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In 1978 the world is on the brink of declaring victory over smallpox. No cases have been seen for months, and it looks like the end for a deadly, painful disease. When a photographer in Birmingham begins to feel ill, doctors are mystified: it looks like smallpox, but how could she have caught it? As they try to contain the outbreak, questions about blame and lab safety erupt in a media frenzy, questions that remain today.

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