“Kate Moran was an only child” may not compete with “Call me Ishmael” or “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” as an opening salvo, but it will do. In this novel, Richard Preston wanders from the arena of fact into fantasy. But when one deals with viral hemorrhagic fevers, the distance is very small. The “Cobra” virus in the story is a genetically engineered combination of a rhinovirus and smallpox that attacks the brain and liquefies it and is meant to be an agent of bioterrorism..

It’s reported that President Bill Clinton read the book and was so unnerved by it that he called his science advisers together for advice. That led to Donald Ainslie Henderson forming the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies. D.A., as he was always known, was the person mainly responsible for organizing the highly successful campaign to eradicate smallpox and was also one of my mentors in the Epidemic Intelligence Service course I took at CDC in 1957. At that time he was one of Alexander Langmuir’s bright young acolytes. Since the conclusion of the smallpox crusade around 1980, he has been a leading light in promoting bioterrorism defense.

Richard Preston, who is known for his meticulous reporting, has popularized the bioterrorism threat in a way that will get the public’s attention with books such as “The Hot Zone” and “The Cobra Event.” Especially when turned into a movie such as “Outbreak.”

If you have always longed for curly (or curlier) hair, you might check them out.

Gordon Short, MD
27 Mar 2014