The Impossible Goal of a Disease-Free World
A wild prairie dog tagged by USGS scientists is part of a project to immunize the animals with an oral plague vaccine. Visual: Marisa Lubeck / USGS Instead of investing in wiping out zoonotic diseases, we should focus on better ways to fortify ourselves against them. BY JOANNA THOMPSON FOR CENTURIES, people have dreamed of a world without disease. The myriad medical breakthroughs in the 20th century — which included antibiotics and modern vaccines — made that utopian ideal feel tantalizingly close. Vaccination led to the global eradication of smallpox in 1980. Even today, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation lists one of … Continue reading The Impossible Goal of a Disease-Free World