UN General Assembly
1952

60. For myself, I consulted our leading Australian authority on virus and communicable diseases, Sir Macfarlane Burnet, a man whose reputation and experience is not without repute in scientific circles throughout,, the world. Sir Macfarlane Burnet has allowed me to quote him regarding allegations that germ warfare has been carried on in Korea. He said the following: “The whole question of spreading disease by such methods has been extensively and openly discussed in literature on the subject. It is the general opinion of bacteriologists that any attempt to initiate epidemics which would then spread widely amongst enemy personnel is bound to be fruitless. “No intelligent bacteriologist could ever believe that the dropping of plague-infested fleas or typhus-infected lice could have more than a minor psychological or nuisance value.