Amazon.com
On December 9, 1979, smallpox, the most deadly human virus, ceased to exist in nature. After eradication, it was confined to freezers located in just two places on earth: the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and the Maximum Containment Laboratory in Siberia. But these final samples were not destroyed at that time, and now secret stockpiles of smallpox surely exist. For example, since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the subsequent end of its biological weapons program, a sizeable amount of the former Soviet Union's smallpox stockpile remains unaccounted for, leading to fears that the virus has fallen into the hands of nations or terrorist groups willing to use it as a weapon. Scarier yet, some may even be trying to develop a strain that is resistant to vaccines. This disturbing reality is the focus of this fascinating, terrifying, and important book.
A longtime contributor to The New Yorker and author of the bestseller The Hot Zone, Preston is a skillful journalist whose work flows like a science fiction thriller. Based on extensive interviews with smallpox experts, health workers, and members of the U.S. intelligence community, The Demon in the Freezer details the history and behavior of the virus and how it was eventually isolated and eradicated by the heroic individuals of the World Health Organization. Preston also explains why a battle still rages between those who want to destroy all known stocks of the virus and those who want to keep some samples alive until a cure is found. This is a bitterly contentious point between scientists. Some worry that further testing will trigger a biological arms race, while others argue that more research is necessary since there are currently too few available doses of the vaccine to deal with a major outbreak. The anthrax scare of October, 2001, which Preston also writes about in this book, has served to reinforce the present dangers of biological warfare.
As Preston eloquently states in this powerful book, this scourge, once contained, was let loose again due to human weakness: "The virus's last strategy for survival was to bewitch its host and become a source of power. We could eradicate smallpox from nature, but we could not uproot the virus from the human heart." --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
“The bard of biological weapons captures
the drama of the front lines.”
-Richard Danzig, former secretary of the navy
The first major bioterror event in the United States-the anthrax attacks in October 2001-was a clarion call for scientists who work with “hot” agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In
The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since
The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.
Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at Usamriid, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world’s most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox-and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979 in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers-at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines.
Usamriid went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government’s response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill.
Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.
Download Description
The first major bioterror event in the United States -- the anthrax attacks in October 2001 -- was a clarion call for scientists who work with "hot" agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.
Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at USAMRIID, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world's most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox -- and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979 in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers -- at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines.
USAMRIID went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government's response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill.
Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.
"Richard Preston has brought us another book that reads like a top-notch thriller. Would that it were fiction. As the movie unfolds in your mind, remember this: It can happen here."
LAURIE GARRETT, AUTHOR OF THE COMING PLAGUE
"The Demon in the Freezer is fascinating, frightening, and important. It reads like a thriller, but the demons are real. Richard Preston has a 'black patent' on this kind of reporting and storytelling. He is the only writer on the scene who can make the inside story of biological weapons so darkly entertaining. Read this book and pray that its heroes can lock the demon back in the freezer."
JONATHAN WEINER, AUTHOR OF THE BEAK OF THE FINCH
"The bard of biological weapons captures the drama of the front lines.”
RICHARD DANZIG, FORMER SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Customer Reviews:
Tiny terrors.......2007-09-12
From the first page, in which author Richard Preston describes the 2001 anthrax attacks in Florida and Washington, DCC, "Demon in the Freezer" is a captivating and compelling read. Partly this comes from Preston's lurid descriptions of the effects of anthrax and smallpox on the human body. Smallpox especially is horrifying-- from the initial fever, malaise and rash to its effect of literally stripping the skin from its victims--smallpox is the nastiest of nasty diseases. Preston takes us behind the scenes to a 1970s outbreak in Germany that was contained by the heroic (and sometimes heartless) actions of a few experts. He takes us top Russian labs whose scientists swear they are not working on biological weapons. We learn about the ease with which viruses are transmitted from person to person and why they had to wait until the beginning of human progress (and its concomitant concentrated populations) to become the global plagues they still threaten to become.
"The Demon in the Freezer" is truly frightening, not only for its descriptions of the terrible effects of these scourges but for the willingness of some governments to seek to use them and the unwillingness of others to protect their citizens against them. The destruction by WHO in the 1990s of hundreds of millions of smallpox vaccines--all to save $25,000 in refrigeration costs--was mind-boggling.
If you learn about what it takes to "weaponize" a virus, if you learn the ease with which virulent microbes can be produced by rogue nations or malevolent individuals, and if you start to appreciate the work of the virologists and epidemiologists who risk their health to work with hot pathogens on a daily basis, then the book will have done its work.
Fascinating and terrifying by turns and (due to the graphic discussions of autopsies and diseases) not for those with weak stomachs.
Another well written medical adventure by Preston.......2007-08-10
The Hot Zone was my first introduction to filovirus' and level 4 hot diseases. I was eager to read Demon in the Freezer, expecting the same high-stakes account of level 4 viral disease.
I was not disappointed.
Demon in the Freezed is a well-written book about the history, eradiction and laboratory resuscitation of smallpox. Between the covers of this book is a well documented history about the erradication of smallpox, including the circle vaccination concept, and an insiders discuss about the incredible ability for this virus to spread by air. I found this book educational and clearly explained.
The ability of smallpox to spread by aerosal is truly terrifying. I was amazed by the research supporting smallpox's ability to float through a hospital, infecting all who stand in its way. As a virus, smallpox has an extraordinary focus on survival, seeking and attaching to hosts easily and quickly.
I find Richard Preston's gift for writing absorbing and powerful. He takes a subject which could be boring medical history and transforms it into a fascinating account of medical phenomena, detailing the passion of those scientist who want to conquer viral illness.
Preston's also shares the story of compassion not only for patients, but for research animals whom scientists become attached to. I was moved by the account of a favorite laboratory monkey's demise. While research physicians and biotechnologists must distance themselves from the animals and humans in their research - they cannot always do so. And the same passion that dedicates their lives to saving others and fighting viral illness, also gives them intense compassion and gratitude torwards the living subjects involved in their research.
I found this story much more terrifying than The Hot Zone. This discusses the intentional mutation of smallpox to be used as biological weaponry. There is a clear threat of this disease returning via laboratory mutation.
Another book which delves into this field, and shares more about the history of level 4 research is Virus Hunter by CJ Peters (he is one of the research physicians spotlighted in The Hot Zone), his book is also well written and discusses his ground-breaking involvement in the development of research approaches to Level 4 diseases.
Another good Preston non-fiction book.......2007-07-18
Related to Hot Zone although about different viruses and events.
You're not likely to forget either book! More good reading on a terrifying topic.
Excellent read.......2007-02-07
This book is one of the best i have read in a while. Richard Preston really puts you in the midst of all of the action and makes you scared to death. The true stories of this book are truly amazing and have such detail. The Demon in the Freezer is truly an amazing book and i definately recommend it.
I agree with Steven King: Preston composes nightmares in prose........2007-01-29
In the amazing wake of "The Hot Zone" comes "The Demon in the Freezer."
Astounding, Shocking, Horrifying; but also the work of a true wordsmith. The highest praise I can heap on this book is that I have packed it with my copy of "The Hot Zone" and sent them to Mr. Preston with a letter expressing my hope that he will return them to me in the same package with the enclosed prepaid label, autographed.
Thanks for the nightmares, Mr. Preston.
Book Description
A plague that will cause the death of millions. A plague that will destroy countries. A plague that will plunge the world into a dark age. A plague that will make nobody sick...
When the first planes go down -- in Europe, in California, in Asia -- authorities blame terrorists. All flights are grounded as world leaders try to figure out how the global assault has been coordinated. And when cars, ships, and factories stop running too, it becomes clear that the common link is oil. Somehow a microbe, genetically engineered to destroy petroleum, has infected the world supply. The world descends into a new dark age.
Dr. Gregory Gillette, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control, is a disease hunter specializing in microbes that attack human beings. When the Pentagon taps him to be part of the Rapid Response Team assembled to track and kill the devastating Delta-3 bacteria, he quickly discovers that his expertise is ignored, his presence meaningless. The leader of the task force is an old nemesis who sidelines Gillette.
Gillette returns home to Washington, where he watches in horror as food becomes scarce, neighbor attacks neighbor, and government collapses. With winter approaching, the capital faces anarchy and Gillette faces a choice: to stay with his family or to disobey orders and find the microbes' antidote through clues that may not even be real.
Customer Reviews:
Dan Brown bested by Reiss in this Sci-Fi Da Vinci Code!.......2007-06-03
This has got to be the Da Vinci Code of recent Science Fiction and thriller offerings: It's over the top. The protagonists are good, larger-than-life, almost super-human and improbably lucky; the bad guys are bad, have some strange hang-ups and idiosyncrasies, and get what's coming to them sooner or later; it's rollicking good fun, suspenseful, chilling at turns, a page-turner from the get-go. No wonder a major motion picture studio has already optioned the book.
The "code" in this present-day disaster novel isn't arcane symbolism, musty crypts, lore or manuscripts, but DNA with a truly twisted genetic sequence that must be cracked before this petroleum-eating bacteria --unleashed among the world's oil fields-- throws our planet and its peoples deeper into chaos, rioting, anarchy, cannibalism, arson and worse.
What is this bacteria? Where did it come from? Who let it loose and why? Was it a terrorist or fringe group with a grudge against the West? Is there anything that can be done to stop it, let alone save Earth's supply of refined crude from the poisoned petro fields?
Those questions and more arise in this swiftly-moving, deftly-handled novel that could have taken its premise from Anderson and Beason's 1995 book "Ill Wind," also predicated on a petroleum-eating bacteria run amok. But "Black Monday" is head-and-shoulders above "Ill Wind," more polished, a much better read in my opinion --and one you won't regret.
Some elements are formulaic and predictable and there are wild coincidences and conveniences clearly inserted for the author's convenience rather than the sake of a convincing story line, but what the heck? This is the earth-bound equivalent of "space opera" Sci-Fi; rooted in some hard science, the human elements always outshine the catastrophic backdrop of the rampaging bacteria: Love, lust, angst, greed, avarice, selfishness, brutality and man's inhumanity to man --it's all here in colors blended just skillfully enough to entertain rather than glare.
Forget the odd typo or two, forget that protagonist Dr. Gregory Gillette (Commander, USN), a former gang member-turned physician/scientist has two beautiful women (one of them his wife) lusting after him, an entire neighborhood trusting him and a world depending on him. Never mind that he's impossibly good-looking and can brawl as well he can embody the ideal tender parent in almost the same paragraph.
Open this book, sit back and enjoy the ride, the twists and turns through the murk and mutiny that are the legacy of a post-petroleum world, one in which there is hope as well as desperation.
Warning: Some scenes of violence may unsettle certain readers, e.g. graphic murder.
Something has invaded most of the world's gas supply....Planes fall out of the sky, food sits rotting, people get hungry..........2007-05-30
BLACK MONDAY by R. Scott Reiss is my latest nightmare-inducer. The premise of this tightly written, chilling work is fairly simple: something has invaded most of the world's gas supply, thus rendering a majority of internal combustion engines inoperative. Planes fall out of the sky, food sits rotting, people get hungry and the natives grow restless.
Reiss doesn't dawdle on the road to chaos. Just like those first few raindrops in the middle of a picnic that herald the start of a deluge, he kicks things off with a couple of early warnings: planes mysteriously crash and cars suddenly stop running. There's a scene near the beginning of BLACK MONDAY that is a homage to "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" (arguably the best-known episode of "The Twilight Zone" television series) and sets things up for the disaster and horror that is to come. Gregory Gillette has the best chance of figuring out how and why the gasoline supply has become contaminated, and what to do about it. Gillette is an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control; while his specialty is the study of disease microbes that attack human beings, it becomes evident to him that something similar is invading the world's oil supply.
While nominally assigned to a rapid response team designated to identify --- and then find some way of destroying --- the deadly microbe that has been code-named Delta-3, Gillette learns he has been backbenched by the head of the team, a longtime nemesis who is letting hubris stand in the way of salvation. Gillette quickly realizes that he must either wait helplessly with his family while their neighborhood and city descend into chaos, along with the rest of the industrialized world, or come up with a way to neutralize and destroy the Delta-3 microbe before the damage to the world (and society) becomes completely irreparable.
Disobeying orders and violating protocol, Gillette embarks on a dangerous and increasingly difficult mission across the country to find the source of the manufactured microbe that threatens to bring civilization crashing down in a matter of weeks. Even as the world is descending into chaos, however, a mysterious assassin is moving through the United States, making a series of apparently random yet carefully chosen killings that are somehow related to the biological attack on the world's oil supply --- and he is on a collision course with Gillette.
Gillette is an interesting and engaging character, whose ordinariness balances nicely with his fortitude and uncanny ability to keep asking questions until he hits the right one --- even as he is subject to baser temptations. For his part, Reiss does a wonderful job of explaining the process by which oil makes its way from a hole in the ground to the pump on the corner. If BLACK MONDAY has a weak spot, it's Reiss's occasional subtle plea for development of alternative fuel sources. Whether it be oil, wind, sun or horses, any mechanism that attempts to distribute power equally over a certain distance, regardless of source, will be vulnerable to the whim of a clown who tries to throw sand in the gears. The solution, as the book ultimately demonstrates, is to make life difficult, if not impossible, for the clown.
In any event, the "what-if" factor of BLACK MONDAY will be more than enough to make you think about it every time you unscrew your car's gas cap and wonder, for just a moment, if you're putting something in the tank besides gas. Don't miss this one.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Oil Apocalypse.......2007-04-18
This is a very good book on many levels. But the most important thing about it is that the author uses a make believe senario (oil eating bacteria) to do very quickly, what humankind is actually doing slowly (consuming the earths oil reserves). The breakdown of civilization is rapid, and deadly. For those of us who believe that world oil depletion will shortly make the Great Depression look like the good old days, the depiction of the downward spiral seems real, and right on target. Definitely a worthwhile read.
Would make a good movie.......2007-03-15
Suspenseful except for the last two chapters of the book then it moprhs into a predictable Hollywood ending. But that's okay, I suppose, because this is a work of fiction (where anything is possible even mundane endings) and most people would rather conclude this story the way the writer did. It got a little bit corny in the end.
I enjoyed the book and although there will be criticisms about the author's alarmist views on our oil dependence, I really did not read it to get any scientific premises on that topic. I bought the book for one simple reason: for entertainment. "Black Monday" was worth it. If you're looking for factual researches on oil-eating bacteria then you've got the wrong book! If you just want to be entertained, then this book will do just that.
Down & Dirty goes Clean & Hollywood!.......2007-03-12
Deinococcus radiodurans showed up in canned meat. It survived radition doses that had previously killed all microbes. This hardy fighter managed to stitch its genome together-actually repair itself- after radiation shredded the membrane of the cell.
The science is there and well presented. The plot is sinister in that the antagonist players could be on the inside rather than breaking into the circle of security.
The is the first half of the novel is an excellent rendition of the scenerio: OIL IS GOING....GOing...going...G o n e !!!!!!!!!!!!
Then what happens to society? What happens to truth?
When trying to get to the truth, It's not journalism any more. It's public relations. The finest minds turned into shills for incompetents.
Soon they ask about the most about powerful narcotic in the world.
OIL: More than opium, more than heroin. The pipelines are syringes. The addicts pay anything for their supply, kill for it.
The first half of this novel is par excellance!
Then it heads south to HOLLYWOOD!!!
Still the first half is all ahead full speed.
After that its a speed read till the last few pages where the author steps outside Hollywood and goes into the close!
Amazon.com
In this fast-paced memoir, Ken Alibek combines cutting-edge science with the narrative techniques of a thriller to describe some of the most awful weapons imaginable. The result will remind readers of The Hot Zone, Richard Preston's smart bestseller about the Ebola virus. That book focuses on the dangers of a freak accident; Biohazard shows how disease can become a deliberate tool of war. Alibek, once a top scientist in the Soviet Union's biological weapons program, describes putting anthrax on a warhead and targeting a city on the other side of the world. "A hundred kilograms of anthrax spores would, in optimal atmospheric conditions, kill up to three million people in any of the densely populated metropolitan areas of the United States," he writes. "A single SS-18 [missile] could wipe out the population of a city as large as New York."
Chilling passages like these, plus discussions of proliferation and terrorism, make Biohazard a harrowing book, but it also has a human side. Alibek, who defected to the United States, describes the routine danger of his work: "A bioweapons lab leaves its mark on a person forever." An unending stream of vaccinations has destroyed his sense of smell, afflicted him with allergies, made it impossible to eat certain kinds of food, and "weakened my resistance to disease and probably shortened my life." But it didn't take away his ability to tell an astonishing story. --John J. Miller
Book Description
Anthrax. Smallpox. Incurable and horrifying Ebola-related fevers. For two decades, while a fearful world prepared for nuclear winter, an elite team of Russian bioweaponeers began to till a new killing field: a bleak tract sown with powerful seeds of mass destruction--by doctors who had committed themselves to creating a biological Armageddon.
Biohazard is the never-before-told story of Russia's darkest, deadliest, and most closely guarded Cold War secret.
No one knows more about Russia's astounding experiments with biowarfare than Ken Alibek. Now the mastermind behind Russia's germ warfare effort reveals two decades of shocking breakthroughs...how Moscow's leading scientists actually reengineered hazardous microbes to make them even more virulent...the secrets behind the discovery of an invisible, untraceable new class of biological agents just right for use in political assassinations...the startling story behind Russia's attempt to turn a sample of the AIDS virus into the ultimate bioweapon. And in a chilling work of real-world intrigue,
Biohazard offers us all a rare glimpse into a shadowy scientific underworld where doctors manufacture mass destruction, where witnesses to errors are silenced forever, and where ground zero is closer than we ever dared believe.
Customer Reviews:
Awakening Terror.......2007-07-17
I bought and read this book years ago and was astounded with the information that was revealed. It's a dangerous world we live in knowing what various governemnts have created in order to destroy humans etc... This story is coming from the Author who was behind some of the most deadly biological, chemical weapons created in Cold War Soviet Union. he defected from the Soviet Union and then went to work for the U.S. governemnt applying his knowledge of weaponized biological agents and how to combat them etc... It's a true story with lots of information. It's a Great Book.
A factual but not fun read........2007-01-14
It many ways this is necessary reading in today's world. Lots of facts, but not a particularly passionate story. It's not a fun page turner. And the author's regret for the demons he created seems too late and too little. The book also ends in 1999 and is due for an update or adddendum. After reading this, one could make the arguement that if there was only a 10% chance that the Soviet bioweapons technology made it to Iraq, then the Iraq invasion was justified. The book is not an exciting or particularly good read; but it may be a necessary read.
Hard To Sleep After Reading This Eight Stars .......2006-10-28
The author for once and for all exterminates the propaganda that the USSR was not involved in the large scale production of biological weapons. He also reminds us that our college campuses are filled with what Stalin termed , " Useful Idiots", those who want to think the US is the eternal villan.
The scale of the USSR bioweapons program was almost beyond what we could imagine both in the quantities produced and the variety of agents exploited. The author leaves little doubt as to the consequences of the use of these materials.
Written before 9-11 the book helps to understand the threat bio-weapons pose when in the hands of unstable nations or terrorist groups. The ease of production and of deployment ( expecially if the humans are willing to die for the cause) is the foundation for restless nights.
The book is also enlightening in how a huge program was shielded from US penetration through conventional Soviet security measures and our scientists unwillingness to consider the possiblity that the Soviets were developing and deploying such weapons.
As terrorist organizations race to be the first to use chemical, bio or nuclear weapons against the US homeland the lessons of the book take on more importance.
Highly recommended .
I love this book!.......2006-07-25
This is one of my top 3 favorite books. It is so addicting you cannot put it down! Most of the statments in this book have do evidence to back them up contrary to what another reveiwer said. I learned a lot from this excellent book!
Dark side of microbiology.......2006-06-16
This book covers the production and development of bioweapons in the Soviet Union. Reading the book is an unique chance to have a peek in the paranoid bureocratic society, in which production of mass murder technologies becomes a norm. In a way, the book is another example how ideological (in this case state sponsored) propaganda can subvert humans to do incredible, inhuman actions.
The book is equally important as a warning for humanity of the self destructive potential of scientific knowledge when harnessed into usage as weapons of mass destruction.
The book is written in readable, professional (from microbiologists viewpoint)and what appears a sincere way. It even seems that the book could be a part of a personal salvation process in which the author wants to deal with his past. I recommend the book for those intrested in soviet history/society, and especially for microbiologists and politicians who should get a deeper understanding of the issues covered in the book.
Average customer rating:
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Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense
Manufacturer: Wiley
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ASIN: 0471467170 |
Book Description
This groundbreaking reference marks the first time a publication has attempted to provide complete coverage in the field of bioterrorism. Articles review current knowledge across various disciplines within the context of bioterrorism, covering the most recent developments in areas including bioterrorism agents, biodefense infrastructure, biotechnology, preparedness, threats, threat analysis, and legislation. Relevant biological warfare events are included with a through analysis.
This one-of-a-kind volume:
- Includes detailed coverage of such topics as:Â Biotechnology and Bioterrorism, Bioterrorist Attack--Stages & Aftermath, Detection of Agents, and Psychological & Social Sequelae
- Offers a user friendly style, with biological agents covered consistently across entries
- Contains over 125 articles
- Provides case studies, with discussion of lessons learned
- Comprehensively covers the field of bioterrorism, including related science, technology, medicine, politics, law and history
Written by an international panel of experts in the field, this landmark reference supplies essential information to a wide audience of scientists, researchers, physicians, health care professionals, policymakers, historians, journalists, and students.
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Hospital Preparation for Bioterror: A Medical and Biomedical Systems Approach (Biomedical Engineering)
Joseph H. McIsaac
Manufacturer: Academic Press
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Hospital Preparation for Bioterror provides an extremely timely guide to improving the readiness of hospitals or healthcare organizations to manage mass casualties as a result of bioterrorism, biological warfare, and natural disasters. Contributions from leading law enforcement agencies, hospital administrators, clinical engineers, surgeons and terror-prevention professionals provide the most comprehensive, well-rounded source for this valuable information. Chapters on logistics and protecting the infrastructure help personnel distinguish the specific risks and vulnerabilities of each unique institution and assists in identifying specific solutions for disaster and bioterrorism preparedness.
·Principles and techniques discussed are applicable to all disasters, both large and small, not just bioterrorism
·Technical aspects such as hospital power and telecommunications are covered, in addition to patient care, response to mass casualties, large-scale drills, and surge capacity.
·Organized along functional lines, patient flow, medical specialty, and infrastructure
·A complimentary website with supplementary materials, check-lists, and references enhances the text and provides additional resources for preparedness.
Book Description
An essential guide to the best and most practical survival information available from the American Armed Forces, edited for civilian use by the same packager who brought us The U.S. Armed Forces Survival Manual that sold over 600,000 copies in the 1980s.
Experts agree that the next terrorist attack on our soil will not come in the same form as September 11. The possibility of nuclear, chemical or biological attack is increasingly likely. The U.S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Counter-Terrorism Handbook will enable its readers to survive such an attack. It contains the best practices of the United States' military, completely edited and adapted for civilian use.
For example, readers will learn how to:
Gain knowledge of an impending chemical attack using a simple warning system;
Protect against biological threats such as anthrax with a series of inoculations;
Guard against fallout from a terrorist nuke;
Achieve basic protection during chemical or biological attacks with a simple mask; and
Administer first aid after nuclear, chemical or biological attacks with a simple first aid kit.
It's all here. This handbook is the single most effective tool for civilians to protect themselves and their loved ones against the threat looming over our homeland.
Customer Reviews:
Vital Info.......2005-08-02
As someone who served in the Army, I have had plenty of NBC training and can say that this book is something that everyone should take the time to read. In fact I learned even more from this book because it is presented in a way that anyone can understand, and it is targeted for use by the civilian population. READ IT, it may save your life one day.
Highly Recommended!.......2004-06-07
We assigned writer prepared this recommendation on a lovely, though warm summer day, while butterflies fluttered over a stand of purple thistles. Until he read this book, it seemed like a peaceful scene. Then, it seemed full of threats and hidden perils. He wondered if his building is strong enough to protect against a nuclear attack. What will his family do if someone sprays anthrax spores from a crop duster? Is there a clear spot in the basement to store enough gas masks, and which ones? This book will make you paranoid, too. It says that the threat of an attack is real and growing. You could laugh that off, except that the police just busted an arms dealer for trying to bring missiles into the U.S., except that someone mailed anthrax to strangers, except that there used to be towers at the World Trade Center. Are recommendation - buy this book, read it, then decide whether it is better to prepare or to take your chances. Feeling lucky? At least go buy some flashlight batteries
This book is very terrifying and very real.......2004-01-23
As a former SEAL I have read several of Captain Couch's novels and liked them all. I thought that I would take a chance on this book because of his reputation. I am glad I did and have bought several more copies through you all for relatives. There is a wealth of great material here and I'll give the sequel five stars instead of four if it's longer!
New Year's Resolution.......2004-01-10
My New Year's resolution was to read this book - and I'm glad that I did. It took hearing about the exploits of Special Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq to make me pick up and read this book by former Navy SEAL Captain Couch. He knows what he's talking about and has given us something straight from military training manuals.
Make sure you see another Christmas.......2003-12-29
I received this for Christmas from a cousin who is in the National Guard who told me his unit used it for training. I can see why. This is essential stuff...
Amazon.com
"We are ... at the brink of a new age: what some experts call catastrophic terrorism," write Michael T. Osterholm (an epidemiologist) and John Schwartz (a Washington Post science reporter) at the start of this slim volume. What's more, "the United States is not doing enough to prepare." Smallpox, anthrax, bubonic plague--a smart terrorist could use any of these deadly diseases to wreak havoc on thousands or even millions of Americans. Yet there aren't enough antibiotics and vaccines in stockpile, public-health facilities can't handle a "surge," and most law enforcement agencies have no idea how to cope with a crisis. "I do not believe it is a question of whether a lone terrorist or terrorist group will use infectious disease agents to kill unsuspecting citizens; I'm convinced it's really just a question of when and where," writes Osterholm in the introduction.
Books about disease and bioterrorism have become a subgenre in recent years, following the popular success of Richard Preston's The Hot Zone and Ken Alibek's Biohazard. Living Terrors probably provides the best quick-and-dirty guide to the problem for lay readers, with its harrowing descriptions of why certain diseases are so fatal and its clear assessment of America's disturbing vulnerabilities. Each chapter begins with a fictionalized account of how an attack might occur. In one, Osterholm and Schwartz write of a disgruntled scientist who loads anthrax into a crop-duster and flies over a crowded stadium. The authors believe this kind of sensationalism is completely warranted, given the nature of the threat and federal government's lackadaisical response to it. The point, they say, is "to warn you that the threat of biological terrorism is real without frightening you out of your wits. Instead, we hope to frighten you into your wits." --John J. Miller
Book Description
America is one killer organism away from a living nightmare that threatens all we hold dear....
A deadly cloud of powdered anthrax spores settles unnoticed over a crowded football stadium.... A school cafeteria lunch is infected with a drug-resistant strain of E. coli.... Thousands in a bustling shopping mall inhale a lethal mist of smallpox, turning each individual into a highly infectious agent of suffering and death....
Dr. Michael Osterholm knows all too well the horrifying scenarios he describes. In this eye-opening account, the nation’s leading expert on bioterrorism sounds a wake-up call to the terrifying threat of biological attack — and America’s startling lack of preparedness.
He demonstrates the havoc these silent killers can wreak, exposes the startling ease with which they can be deployed, and asks probing questions about America’s ability to respond to such attacks.
Are most doctors and emergency rooms able to diagnose correctly and treat anthrax, smallpox, and other potential tools in the bioterrorist’s arsenal? Is the government developing the appropriate vaccines and treatments?
The answers are here in riveting detail — what America has and hasn’t done to prevent the coming bioterrorist catastrophe. Impeccably researched, grippingly told,
Living Terrors presents the unsettling truth about the magnitude of the threat. And more important, it presents the ultimate insider’s prescription for change: what we must do as a nation to secure our freedom, our future, our lives.
Customer Reviews:
Armageddon.......2007-08-26
This book by Michael Osterholm is extreamly hard to put down. I have had the privilege of knowing the author because of having somewhat similar backgrounds regarding microbes and other disease producing agents. My respect for Mike is his distinct ability to get his message across both lucidly and with much gravity. All who read this book should heed it's message loud and clear!
Great for hypochodriacs.......2005-05-27
While Dr. Osterholm's suggestions for improvements to the nations biological defense were ingenious and visionary, the rest of the text was to sensational for me to take seriously. The examples of biological attacks were so dramatic that at points I was laughing. The terrorists had some how bypassed all safeties in place without any effort which would not be the case for a large scale attack. Just read "Silent Death" or "Biohazard" and you would understand the difficulty in the types of attacks he was describing.
Yes, there have been bioterrorist attacks in the U.S. but none of the scale he is describing. He doesnt seem to understand the destinction between biological warfare and bioterrorism that he says he is trying to make. There is a real threat and his underlying message is an important one but the approach was meant to shock instead of to teach.
If your interested in biological weapons or warfare I would suggest "Germs" or "Biohazard" instead. They take them selves more seriously and the detailed accounts of actual biological attacks is more frightening then anything that can be made up.
Excellent, but far behind the times.......2004-02-17
This book presents threat scenarios, and it also presents an 8 point program.
Flatly, Dr. Osterholm doesn't go NEARLY far enough. This prescription and Dr. Osterholm's exposition of threat is far behind the times. I could understand the threat exposition not presenting the leading edge, however, his 8 point program is, today, a Potemkin perimeter. False security is worse than none at all.
Those physicians who think Osterholm is out there in the hype zone just don't understand what the march of science and technology is creating. Let us hope that we are so lucky as to only face a smallpox epidemic or, luckier yet, an anthrax attack. We could survive those.
Understand, I absolutely do not want to see any such thing occur at any level. I am simply pointing out that in todays world the scenarios Dr. Osterholm has presented are relatively minor and his program is grossly inadequate.
A fascinating book on bioterrorism.......2002-12-31
Published in 2000, this prescient book presents the authors' suggestion that the United States will inevitably be attacked with biological agents, and that not enough is being done to prepare for that eventuality. Well, a year later, the first serious bioterrorist attack was indeed launched.
This book studies what agents might be used in a biological attack, how, by whom, what the U.S. government has done, and what it must do. Each chapter begins with part of a bioterrorist scenario, showing how easy and frighteningly effective a biological attack could be. Due to the fact of when the book was written, it is scathing in its review of the actions taken by the Clinton administration, but cannot comment on the bioterrorist attacks of 2001. Nonetheless, this is a fascinating book, one that I highly recommend to anyone interested in bioterrorism.
Still One of The Best On The Subject..........2002-11-15
I first read LIVING TERRORS two years ago, when the first edition hit bookstores. I re-read it this past week (mid-November 2002) and it still chills me... as well it should.
From William Clinton to anti-terrorism czar Richard Clarke to the bioterrorism mavens at USAMMRID and Johns Hopkins University-- the prediction is as unanimous as it is chilling. There will be a biological attack by terrorists --on U.S. soil-- within the next five to ten years.
And when it does, it will doubtless follow one or another of the scenarios detailed in Living Terrors. I've spent the past six hours reading it cover-to-cover, and it is an outstanding book-- the kind of thing that ought to be required reading at all levels of government and the general public. It is that rare combination of solid research and excellent writing to which all non-fiction should aspire.
I spent months extensively researching biological terrorism for my novel on the subject, Final Epidemic-- from Richard Preston to Ken Alibek to the works of Don Henderson of Johns Hopkins, and more. Living Terrors stands among the best of them. Frankly, since starting research on the subject back in November 1999, I've been shocked and appalled at just how vulnerable the world is --and remains-- to biological terrorism. Dr. Osterholm and Mr. Schwartz detail this onrushing catastrophe in a manner that is cautionary without sensationalism-- providing information that, when the inevitable microbe attack occurs, could nonetheless save American lives.
Buy --and read-- Living Terrors. And for your own sake, take this issue seriously, today.
Average customer rating:
- Biological Weapons Defense
|
Biological Weapons Defense: Infectious Disease and Counterbioterrorism (Infectious Disease)
Manufacturer: Humana Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1588291847 |
Book Description
Prominent experts in biodefense research-many from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases-authoritatively delineate the universe of scientific, medical, and legal issues facing the biodefense research community. Regarding medical countermeasures and decontamination, the authors describe the treatment and pathogenesis of a variety of established pathogens (anthrax, plague, smallpox, Brucellosis, Glanders, and Coxiella burnettii) and review what is known about the aerosol route of infection and decontamination processes. They also examine how to discover the presence of these agents, or other previously unknown biological weapons, and detail the ongoing efforts to counter these agents, including proteomic and genomic analysis as a gateway to better diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccinations, genotyping, and forensics. Additional chapters discuss the development and use technology to identify and characterize these infectious organisms, emerging threats, and the development of countermeasures.
Customer Reviews:
Biological Weapons Defense.......2006-07-12
This is a great book. The only thing I don't like is that The chapters are only numbered at the beginning of each chapter. If you just open the book randomly, you don't know what chapter you are reading.
Average customer rating:
- AAH rewiew
- Comprehensive, realistic approach
- Systematic, thorough, detailed, very solid...
- The Complete Guide to Understanding Bioterrorism
|
America's Achilles' Heel: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Terrorism and Covert Attack (BCSIA Studies in International Security)
Richard A. Falkenrath ,
Robert D. Newman , and
Bradley A. Thayer
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0262561182 |
Book Description
Nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons delivered covertly by terrorists or hostile governments pose a significant and growing threat to the United States and other countries. Although the threat of NBC attack is widely recognized as a central national security issue, most analysts have assumed that the primary danger is military use by states in war, with traditional military means of delivery. The threat of covert attack has been imprudently neglected.
Covert attack is hard to deter or prevent, and NBC weapons suitable for covert attack are available to a growing range of states and groups hostile to the United States. At the same time, constraints on their use appear to be eroding. This volume analyzes the nature and limits of the covert NBC threat and proposes a measured set of policy responses, focused on improving intelligence and consequence-management capabilities to reduce U.S. vulnerability.
About the authors:
Richard A. Falkenrath is Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He served as Executive Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (BCSIA) and, before that, as a Research Fellow. He is the author and co-author of Shaping Europe's Military Order (1995), Avoiding Nuclear Anarchy (1996), America's Achilles' Heel:Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Terrorism and Covert Attack (1998), and numerous journal articles and chapters of edited volumes. Falkenrath has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the German Society of Foreign Affairs (DGAP) in Bonn. He holds a PhD from the Department of War Studies, King's College, London, where he was a British Marshall Scholar, and is a summa cum laude graduate of Occidental College, Los Angeles, with degrees in economics and international relations. He is on leave in 2001-2002 and is currently serving as Director for Counterproliferation and Homeland Defense at the National Security Council.
Bradley A. Thayer is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Customer Reviews:
AAH rewiew.......2007-03-14
I needed this book for a class I am taking, however, I would have read this book just for pleasure, I finished it before the class even started
Comprehensive, realistic approach.......2001-08-18
This is a comprehensive analysis of the threat without being alarmist.
It is far too easy to find shocking explanations of the biological weapons potential that do not describe some of the difficulties in their procurement and delivery. This "sexy" approach captures our attention and makes for good entertainment, but the `Chicken Little' approach doesn't help us develop rational methods for dealing with the issue.
Read this book if you want a levelheaded examination. It also contains a good description and solid recommendations for a national strategy.
Systematic, thorough, detailed, very solid..........2001-08-13
In a very good way, I got more than I bargained for by reading this book. While seeking a solid source to inform myself on the "nuts and bolts", policy implications, and development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), I continued to come across this title. Expect some dense and intense reading; there is not a wasted word here. The book focuses exclusively on the covert delivery of a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon against an American target, exploring possible methods, limitations, locales, preventive measures, and consequences. This book will considerably broaden the knowledge of any first-timer looking into WMD and likely provides substantive material for discussion among policy makers and experts in the field.
The Complete Guide to Understanding Bioterrorism.......2000-03-28
I picked up this book as a research tool for a paper. Not only did I find the book to contain everything I needed, I became so enveloped in the reality of what I was reading that I couldn't put it down. A fan of Tom Clancy novels, this book describes the harsh reality that we live in, while detailing both the strengths and the weaknesses of the US response to bioterrorism. A must read for those with an interest in national security issues.
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