The book investigates the history and biological threat of smallpox, focusing on the global eradication campaign led by D.A. Henderson and the subsequent preservation of the virus in high-security laboratories. Richard Preston tracks the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States and the specific scientific efforts at USAMRIID to identify the Ames strain. He documents the secret Soviet bioweapons program, Biopreparat, which engineered smallpox for missile warheads, and examines the modern synthesis of the horsepox virus as a demonstration of how rogue actors might recreate lethal pathogens from genetic data.
Readers interested in biosafety and public health policy use this text to understand the technical challenges of defending against biological warfare. It appeals to those seeking a factual account of how epidemiology and forensic microbiology intersect during national security crises. The reader gains a precise understanding of the physiological effects of Variola major, the logistics of containment strategy, and the ongoing international debate regarding the destruction of the world's last known viral stocks in the United States and Russia.
Outward-looking and clear-cut; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Evidence Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2002
- Language
- EN
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