Rating: 
Summary: "The Pox on both your houses"
Review: A book that is timely in consideration of the current crisis. Well documented and microbiology majors will appreciate all the WHO accounts. It is understandable even by a layman and is a book of warning. This dreaded disease is one of the worst to be faced by humanity and the book delves into the terrible history and the valiant fight to eradicate it. The folly of course, is that it is a political weapon of terror and nations violated obligations to "preserve" specimens for war use. This brings us to the dangers of today and how rogue nations might unleash this plague again where it could have a "doubling" effect in that many have ancient vaccinations that have worn out and others that have never known the disease are therefore prime meat for infection. A gripping account and well worth the read.
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Summary: Different viewpoint of the same problem.
Review: I just recently finish Preston's book 'The Demon in the Freezer'. You would think that would fulfill my appetite for knowledge concerning smallpox, right? But that particular book and this one, Scourge, are very different. While Preston writes for the masses, often in a very novelistic, suspenseful way to bring information concerning microbial dangers to everyone, this particular book is more for those whose interests and avocations and jobs lie in these fields. This does not mean the book is written boringly. Both books deserved the five stars for different reasons. 'Demon...' was exciting and horrifying in it's details concerning smallpox, this book brings to life the unfortunate politics played behind the scenes by physicians, by government entities such as the Defense Department, by politicians who do not understand the full implications of most biological and bioethical discussions, by entire countries (U.S. and Russia the worst as per usual). Though Tucker and Preston mention a few names and incidents in common in their books, their writing is very different. Tucker is deeply involved in bioweapons development as a member of an elite group that monitors this type of problem internationally. Preston writes like a journalist. So the impact of their writing is completely different and I personally think anyone interested in this problem is well-served by reading both books. Scourge tells the story of the political problems not only in eradicating the smallpox worldwide, but the current problem concerning the existence of stocks at the CDC and VEctor, and whether they should be destroyed. Tucker goes into far more detail concerning the problems in India and Bangladesh that made that country one of the last to contain smallpox (and bodes ill should smallpox ever raises its head there again). He also goes into much more detail concerning Russia's two-faced behavior in supplying the world with the vaccine that led to eradication, but in secret continuing to work on smallpox and genetic variations in order to have them for biological weaponry. Tucker also gives a good warning at the end chapter, that while the ability to use smallpox as a weapon is more difficult then imagined, the possibility of using it still exists. He emphasizes that panic does not contribute anything useful, but awareness and preparation for the possibility does. I am glad that the smallpox vaccinations are there, and I think more physicians and other medical personnel should be prepared for seeing these cases, and being able to differentiate between smallpox, flu, and chickenpox. Karen Sadler,
Science Education
Rating:
Summary: Timing isn't everything, content makes this book a no miss!
Review: I read this book on the flight to NYC where my husband and I viewed the remains of the World Trade Center. A memorable event. Tucker's book is a memorable reading event for anyone interested in public health, bioweapons, US and world policy, and anyone who wants to read a darn good story! The book can be divided into three parts; the history and impact of smallpox on the human race, the unprecidented efforts to successfully eradicate this disease from the earth, and its real potential for reintroduction as a potent bioweapon. Tucker is a careful researcher as well as a wonderful storyteller, an unbeatable combination considering the nature of the topic he chose to write about. You like Tom Clancy? The story told here is real. Don't let the non-fiction designation deter you from reading this page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Completely absorbing
Review: Mr. Tucker has written a highly readable account of one of the great killers of human history. Starting with background on smallpox: the course of the disease, its effect on humnan history, its use as a biological weapon, and moving through to the early work of Jenner in the field of vaccination, and the awe-inspiring triumph of the campaign to eradicate this terrible disease, this riveting account paints a portrait of one the great public health achievements of the 20th, or any, century. From that high point, the author then goes on to describe the hideous betrayal of that achievement by the very people who had first proposed undertaking the eradication of smallpox: the former Soviet Union. He lays out the Soviet bioweapons program that secretly kept the virus alive and kicking, and the Soviets' attempts to combine the virus with other viruses to create an even more powerful bug. Given recent events, this book's timing and message could not be better. Scourge is not an alarmist book, rather, a sobering one.
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Summary: You think small pox is totally eradicated-think again!
Review: Ok, so I'm on a Disease kick right now. After reading "The Hot Zone" and "Virus Hunter" I moved on to "Scourge: the once and future threat of smallpox." Quite and interesting read, this last book proved to be. The author is extremely knowledgeable about the subject matter and manages to keep the reader engaged for well over 200 pages. The one thing these three books have in common, and the one feature I could do without is the "modeling" that come in the last chapter. This is where the author models the outbreak of some disease (in this case smallpox, go figure) to show the reader how unprepared we are, and how virulent the disease actually is. Although it was quaint in the first book, by the third it is tired. Aside from that, I would encourage anyone with a passing interest in infectious disease or bioterrorism to take a closer look at "Scourge."
Rating:
Summary: No Longer an Epidemic, Forever a Threat
Review: One of the achievements of which humans can be truly proud is the elimination of smallpox. It is a great, centuries-long story of a scientific triumph over an apocalyptically powerful disease. The smallpox virus is easily caught from other people, or even from those it has killed, or their clothes. It kills a third of those who get it, and if it doesn�t kill, it can blind or disfigure. It has changed history � the New World would not have been conquered so thoroughly, perhaps, if the conquerors were not helped by the virus they brought with them. The last naturally occurring case was in Somalia, a cook who was thereupon vaccinated and cured. In 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated. It was a real scientific victory, but as the subtitle of _Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox_ (Atlantic Monthly Press) by Jonathan B. Tucker indicates, victory may have been declared early. Especially with current terrorist threats, we would be wrong to say we have no reason to worry about smallpox. Tucker is an expert on biological and chemical weapons, and directs a nonproliferation program concerning them. The first half of his book is a fascinating history of the interaction of humans and the virus, with various vaccination programs eventually wiping out the natural disease. The battle began even before Jenner�s inoculation by cowpox, inoculating people with material from others who had a mild form of the illness. Our technological competence in administering the inoculations improved, but Tucker�s narrative takes off in describing the efforts of the World Health Organization to get to areas of the world where the disease was endemic. This is a great story, with real heroes fighting not only natural forces but governmental and societal inertia. So smallpox was eradicated, and since vaccination was no longer needed, it was halted. And herein is the problem: vaccination confers only a temporary immunity, and now, if somehow the virus were released into the population, it would find no resistance at all. Research on the virus stopped, and the institutions that had samples of the virus destroyed them or turned them into the only two repositories, one in the US and one in Russia. There they sit in cold storage, safe from anyone. But the safety may be an illusion. In 1989, a defector from the USSR alerted US intelligence to a huge Soviet bioweapons program. Tons of smallpox virus had been manufactured, with the idea of sending it to America on ballistic missiles, �a devastating blow to the United States, perhaps destroying it as a functioning society.� The bioweapon program vanished with the Soviets (or did it?), and eradication of even the two stored samples of the virus was scheduled for 1995. But in a blow-by-blow account of how the various involved agencies of the US government faced each other off on the issue, Tucker shows how there was a stay of execution. There are good reasons for destroying the virus once and for all, but there are good reasons not to, and so the debate is running not on objective data but on emotional fear, made worse in the current atmosphere of terror. Right now, all experimentation with the virus is to end this year, and thereafter it could be autoclaved into oblivion, but there will undoubtedly be just another round of debate between the �destructionists� and the �retentionists.� Hanging over the argument will be the irony that conquering the illness was just a step along the way to making it a possible agent of biological terrorism. Tucker�s fascinating and scary history shows that for all our scientific competence, and for all our understanding of microscopic life forms, we have not conquered our own baser impulses, and so smallpox is still a danger.
Rating:
Summary: Fast moving...and MORE TIMELY EACH DAY
Review: Smallpox is back into the news with a VENGEANCE these days...and Scourge's theme becomes as timely -- informative, troubling and, when you ponder it, TRAGIC -- as ever. But make no mistake about it: this book is NOT just doom-and-gloom: the underlying message is that man battled smallpox -- the airborne, spitting cobra of diseases --throughout the centuries and eventually won. And even though it looks like a merciless segment of mankind (terrorists or terrorists-sympathizing governments) could WITTINGLY unleash this disease that already killed millions, mankind conquered smallpox once -- and it can do so again......but it will cost many lives. Just look at some recent news stories. It recently was revealed that some Russians died during the 70s of what was suspected to have been a "perfected" form of weaponized
smallpox secretly developed by their own government to use against the United States. July 2002: a news story notes a US plan to immunize nurses doctors and other health workers first and provide for treatment and mass vaccination AFTER the fact. July 2002: a news story says volunteers are trying a 50-year-old smallpox vaccine in the US, where vaccinations haven't been offered since 1972 (and they wear off after 10 years). In Scourge, biological and technical weapons expert Jonathan Tucker gives you the PERFECT briefing book on how the disease works, how it is spread, how doctors have painstakingly battled to decrease its murderous capacity over the centuries, and how, in 1978 under WHO's remarkable Dr. DA Henderson, international doctors proclaimed a relentless campaign against the disease over and successful: smallpox was completely erradicated. One of the book's most fascinating parts is how he traces smallpox's use(with little remorse) as an early biological weapon by colonists against Native Americans, by the British against Americans and others. And why not? The disease kills 30 percent of the people who get it in the most horrific, painful ways: it would literally bring an enemy to its knees. This clearly-written, fast moving book then shifts: to one of the greatest betrayals of mankind. And when the shift comes you are shocked...and sickened. Tucker outlines in great detail how the rumors were confirmed: yes, the Soviet Union had LIED -- and HAD maintained smallpox stocks and HAD worked on developing it for use as The ULTIMATE biological weapon (confirmed by recent news reports). The Soviets wanted to "perfect" smallpox as a lethal weapon that could kill up to 100 percent of the time (in other words 30 percent was too low a death rate for them) -- to spray or bomb via missile or plane to finish off an already-reeling US population after a catastrophic nuclear attack. Today, Tucker notes, it's feared that virus stocks are held by North Korea, Iran, Iraq and China. Even worse: there are fears that terrorists can get -- or already have -- the
smallpox weapon. All this in a world in which countries have stopped smallpox vaccinations. PERSONAL NOTE: I can personally attest to some of this book's accuracy. In 1974, as a freelance correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, I went down to Patna, Bihar with WHO teams as they went into tiny villages to find smallpox cases, isolate them, and vaccinate other areas. It wasn't pretty. But the doctors were so inspiring: they BELIEVED they had an unparalleled medical achievement within their grasp and that, for the good of humanity, they were close to totally exterminating this disease. And by 1978 they announced that they did. But in the end, as this book shows, they -- and centuries of dedicated medical workers, doctors and smallpox victims -- were betrayed. Yes, the doctors killed smallpox. But the military and governments kept it on life support. A pox on both their houses.
Rating:
Summary: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox
Review: The author, Jonathan Tucker is an expert on biological and chemical weapons. He studied biology at Yale University, received his Ph.D. in political science from MIT, and served in the State Department, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. So, although his descriptions of past epidemics are horrible enough, it's the present and future threat of smallpox---the second half of this book---where Tucker really scared the bejabbers out of me. I had no idea that the Soviet bioweapons program, Vector, had gone as far as it did in developing viral weapons. According to the author, "Some 4,500 people, including about 250 Ph.D.-level scientists, worked at Vector in the late 1980s...One goal of the...program was to develop a smallpox-based biological weapon containing virulence genes from Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus. At least theoretically, such a viral chimera would combine the hardiness and transmissibility of smallpox with the lethality of Ebola, which was between 90 percent and 100 percent fatal, resulting in an 'absolute' biological weapon." The real irony of the Vector bioweapons program was that the Soviet Union (along with the United States) was a major factor in eradicating the scourge of smallpox from the world in the 1970s. Where are those 4,500 people who worked at Vector, now? Where is the twenty tons of smallpox virus formulation that was stocked at the Center of Virology in Zagorsk? The Soviets supposedly destroyed the stockpile in the late 1980s, but the smallpox seed cultures and the expertise to manufacture biological weapons from them still remain. The author clearly presents the arguments for and against retaining the known remaining smallpox virus stocks in Atlanta and Moscow. However, I believe he sides with the 'destructionists' rather than the 'retentionists': "From a practical standpoint, now that the DNA sequences of representative strains of variola virus hade been determined, the live virus was no longer needed to identify smallpox if it were to reappear in the future. Nor would live variola [smallpox] virus be required to protect against a future outbreak of smallpox, since the small pox vaccine--based on the distinct vaccinia virus--could be retained and stockpiled for insurance purposes." The long, difficult task of eliminating smallpox from the world (as thrillingly described in "Scourge") will not be complete until all known and rogue virus stocks (believed held by North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and possibly China) are destroyed. The world's population has grown increasingly vulnerable to the disease since the last official vaccination programs were eliminated in 1984, as the protective immunity induced by the vaccine lasts only about seven to ten years. Nor is there an effective medical treatment for smallpox. As Tucker states in his closing sentence: "Until humanity's legal and moral restraints catch up with its scientific and technological achievements, the eradication of smallpox will remain as much a cautionary tale as an inspirational one."
Rating:
Summary: This one is difficult to put down.
Review: The eradication of smallpox was one of the great medical successes of the 20th century. As Tucker (Toxic Terror) explains, smallpox has devastated humankind throughout most of its history. Highly contagious and with a fatality rate of about 30%, smallpox killed three times more people than did wars during the last century. Tucker describes the ravages caused by the disease and succinctly traces its role in history: its use as a biological weapon (by colonists against Native Americans, the British against American colonists during the Rwevolution and by both sides during the American Civil War) and the World Health Organization's remarkable battle, waged largely under the direction of Dr. D.A. Henderson, against naturally occurring smallpox (the battle was won in 1980). Even as the last traces of smallpox were being destroyed, however, the Soviets were experimenting with military uses for the deadly virus. Drawing on popularly published sources, Tucker argues that such research continued at least until the Soviet Union disbanded, and probably beyond. Other than mentioning that President Nixon prohibited such research in the United States, Tucker remains silent about any U.S. offensive strategies involving the disease. Warning that terrorists might well have access to samples of the smallpox virus, he remarks that, if successfully unleashed, the virus could decimate the world's population. Even though a naturally occurring case of smallpox has not been seen in more than 20 years, the government spends millions of dollars annually researching treatment strategies and producing vaccines for storage. Tucker breathes new life into mostly familiar material; the book is difficult to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly fascinating!
Review: There are already a number of great Amazon[.com] reviews on this book; I just wanted to add my voice and say how much I enjoyed it. It is incredibly well written and very difficult to put down. Tucker does a fantastic job of presenting the harsh history of small pox as well as alerting the reader the to potential modern-day threat. It is immensely interesting and informative. I've leant this book to a couple of friends, and they both were very pleased with it.
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