Many years ago I talked about the 'tree falling in the forest' question.
I said "A falling tree must make sound. The vibrations would be there."
A person of authority said that the 'name' for sound. Might make the answer less clear. People 'hear' 'sounds'. Vibrations do not become 'sound' until someone is there to hear it.
This leads into a topic. "Germ Warfare".
By my previous example, we might make the case that 'germ warfare' did not exist until the word 'germ' gained a meaning.
I am confident the idea of making your enemies sick had been around for a long time. Especially, the plan to send sick animals into the herds of your enemies. Eroding wealth and reducing food supplies.
It would appear that the first 'germ warfare' attack to meet the naming criteria used Small Pox. Infected blankets sent to indigenous populations in North America.
Small Pox is now eradicated from the human population. That sounds very good me. I have hopes that Polio and the Guinea Worm will be reradiated soon. I would like to see the Toxoplasmosis parasite gone too.
I am not sure I like the idea, but Small Pox samples are still held in laboratories. The last case of fatal small pox was due to a lab sample.
I want to make the case that the last death to Small Pox was not the person that succumbed to the illness. It was the person that kept that sample. Found dead in the woods with a hunting firearm.
Whether it was a self-inflicted death or something nefarious, I would hope those deaths would be the end of it.
Samples of small pox might be gene sequenced, then completely removed everywhere in the world.
Just a small amount of human co-operation and Small Pox might never return.