“ The Demon in the Freezer” by Richard Preston focuses on the biological weapons anthrax, smallpox, and how the US fights against them. In this book, Richard talks about the smallpox eradication program that took place from 1967-1980. He also communicates about America's government perception of smallpox being a biological weapon and includes the persisting controversy of the existing smallpox virus samples in Moscow and Atlanta. Richard begins his writing by discussing the first bioterror events in America, the 2001 anthrax attacks (Preston, 2002). He highlights the case of Robert Stevens, who died from pulmonary anthrax. Following the terror attack using anthrax-laced letters, a month after September 11 th , the FBI's unit involved with hazardous materials activated their plan to track the terrorism groups. This work reviews the book “ The Demon in the Freezer, ” including plot and character details.
Preston's main focus in “ The Demon in the Freezer” is smallpox. He talks of the possible and deliberate spread of the smallpox virus, which he highlights as deadly and highly contagious. According to Preston (2002), smallpox is an easily transmissible and agonizing disease, thus a major bioterror threat. He explains that for the individuals immunized decades ago, vaccinations are useless against smallpox disease. He affirms that direct contact is unnecessary in the process of transmitting smallpox as the disease is readily transmitted through the air. Therefore, if terrorist groups in America unleash smallpox, it is capable of overwhelming the whole world.
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In his writing, Preston describes the history of smallpox. He explains that the disease tormented humans for decades while constantly evolving until its subsequent eradication in 1979 by WHO’s vaccination efforts (Preston, 2002). He highlights the 1970s smallpox epidemic in northern Germany’s Meschede that claimed four lives. The outbreak was started by a single case of a man named Peter, who had come from Karachi (Preston, 2002). The final case of smallpox was observed in Somalia, in which a hospital cook, Ali had contracted the disease on 27 th October 1977. However, 57,000 ring vaccinations among the people around Ali helped to eradicate the condition. Therefore, the containment effort of the remaining stockpiles of the smallpox virus is the main focus of Preston’s book.
Preston's character, Dr. Peter Jahrling, a senior scientist at USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases), asserts that smallpox is the greatest biological threat to humans. Jahrling asserts that smallpox during its active days claimed more than a billion lives. Therefore, the existing sanctioned repositories for the smallpox virus are in Moscow, Russia, and the US at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. However, bioterror experts such as Preston believe that a secretly cultured virus exists and can be accessible to terrorists.
In his writing, Preston indicates a conflict between the D.A Henderson, the head of the Public Health Preparedness Office, and Jahrling. Peter, Jahrling, the government virologists, asserts that vaccines stockpiles are necessary for the fight against smallpox. He emphasizes on the increased need to increase smallpox experimentations to develop an antiviral agent. On the other hand, Henderson emphasizes on the need to destroy the smallpox repositories as a way of portraying the intolerance of the virus. Therefore, Henderson views smallpox experiments using animals as a morally wrong initiative.
Additionally, the former field worker of WHO and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health current dean Al Sommer believes that the experimentation work by Jahrling could push other nations into their research, thus increasing the risk from the virus stockpiles. Preston, in his work, reveals the genetically engineered mousepox virus, which was created by Australian scientists. This event is disturbing as the rodents resistant to mousepox are susceptible to the new creation. Therefore, this particular development suggests that a smallpox super virus can be developed, thus rendering the existing vaccines useless.
Reference
Preston, R. (2002). The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story . Random House, New York.
