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RECORD NUMBER: 6 OF 13

Main Title Scourge : the once and future threat of smallpox /
Author Tucker, Jonathan B.
Publisher Atlantic Monthly Press,
Year Published 2001
OCLC Number 46729376
ISBN 0871138301; 9780871138309
Subjects Smallpox--History ; Smallpox--history ; Kinderlèahmung ; Geschichte
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
ELBM  RC183.1.T83 2001 AWBERC Library/Cincinnati,OH 12/26/2012
Edition 1st ed.
Collation 291 p. ; 24 cm.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Notes
Acknowledgments -- 1. Monster on death row -- 2. Smallpox and civilization -- 3. Dr. Jenner's vaccine -- 4. Launching the crusade -- 5. Global eradication -- 6. Long road to zero -- 7. Realm of the final inch -- 8. The Soviet betrayal -- 9. Stay of execution -- 10. Washington reconsiders -- 11. Decision in Geneva -- 12. The unfinished conquest -- Source notes -- Author interviews -- Index. This book provides a definitive account of the dramatic story of smallpox by a leading expert on biological and chemical weapons. The author traces the history of the smallpox virus from its first recorded outbreak around 3700 B.C. through its use as the first biological warfare agent in human history, and draws some decisively important lessons for the future. In a timely debate, he addresses the ever-growing concerns about the proliferation of the deadly smallpox virus and its use by terrorist organizations. Explaining how the eradication of the disease in the late 1970s encouraged military research and production of the virus, he exposes the failure of the Russian government to secure its remaining cold-war stockpiles, and evaluates the past and present measures undertaken by the United States to counter the existing dangers of a smallpox attack. Ultimately, he passionately argues for the strengthening of the existing legal ban on the development and possession of biological weapons.