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DOGE cut 20% of APHIS the agency that protects U.S. agriculture and now the screwworm parasite that wipes out livestock has returned to the U.S (mander.xyz)

submitted 17 hours ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

And to generalize it more, pests and diseases are rarely truly eradicated, that's part of why smallpox is so notable, the virus only exists in laboratory settings anymore (and that's partly because it's a predominantly human disease). Usually eradication means in an area or in people in an area. Because of that it's usually an active effort to keep it out. Measles was eliminated in the developed world, but it was still around, it was just kept at bay by mass vaccination. As vaccination rates fell it was able to come back through interactions with places it hadn't been eliminated.