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Perpetually_isolated t1_ity4ik5 wrote

Reply to comment by atlantis_airlines in TIL: The famous Alaskan sled dog "Balto" was preserved in taxidermy and is on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio. by alex6219

I remember a dog sled team that was transporting penicillin? Or was it a polio vaccine? Anyway that dog is a hero.

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atlantis_airlines t1_ity51u7 wrote

It wasn't a vaccine as the kids were already sick but I can't remember from what.

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triggerhappymidget t1_ity5uqp wrote

Diphtheria

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internetdiscocat t1_itzkif6 wrote

And just for people who don’t really know: diphtheria is AWFUL.

It’s nickname is “the strangling angel” because you grow a leathery plaque in your throat that just obstructs your airway and your lymph nodes swell.

I think people thought it was like a flu, but it’s a HORRIBLE illness that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

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Irlandaise11 t1_itzpksz wrote

My great-aunt died from diphtheria a few years after this. She was only 9, and her younger siblings all survived, but my great-grandparents were devastated.

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Worldly-Respond-4965 t1_itzqe6l wrote

Togo did the major part of the run. Disney has the movie about it. All of the huskies here in the states are decended from him.

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