The Life and Death of Smallpox

The Life and Death of Smallpox PDF Author: Ian Glynn
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521845427
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A history of one of the most feared diseases, ending with a conditional human success story - the worldwide eradication of smallpox.

The Life and Death of Smallpox

The Life and Death of Smallpox PDF Author: Ian Glynn
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521845427
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A history of one of the most feared diseases, ending with a conditional human success story - the worldwide eradication of smallpox.

Angel of Death

Angel of Death PDF Author: G. Williams
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230293190
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 453

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Book Description
The story of the rise and fall of smallpox, one of the most savage killers in the history of mankind, and the only disease ever to be successfully exterminated (30 years ago next year) by a public health campaign.

Smallpox: The Death of a Disease

Smallpox: The Death of a Disease PDF Author: D. A. Henderson, M.D.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592230X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
For more than 3000 years, hundreds of millions of people have died or been left permanently scarred or blind by the relentless, incurable disease called smallpox. In 1967, Dr. D.A. Henderson became director of a worldwide campaign to eliminate this disease from the face of the earth. This spellbinding book is Dr. Henderson’s personal story of how he led the World Health Organization’s campaign to eradicate smallpox—the only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated. Some have called this feat "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century." In a lively, engrossing narrative, Dr. Henderson makes it clear that the gargantuan international effort involved more than straightforward mass vaccination. He and his staff had to cope with civil wars, floods, impassable roads, and refugees as well as formidable bureaucratic and cultural obstacles, shortages of local health personnel and meager budgets. Countries across the world joined in the effort; the United States and the Soviet Union worked together through the darkest cold war days; and professionals from more than 70 nations served as WHO field staff. On October 26, 1976, the last case of smallpox occurred. The disease that annually had killed two million people or more had been vanquished–and in just over ten years. The story did not end there. Dr. Henderson recounts in vivid detail the continuing struggle over whether to destroy the remaining virus in the two laboratories still that held it. Then came the startling discovery that the Soviet Union had been experimenting with smallpox virus as a biological weapon and producing it in large quantities. The threat of its possible use by a rogue nation or a terrorist has had to be taken seriously and Dr. Henderson has been a central figure in plans for coping with it. New methods for mass smallpox vaccination were so successful that he sought to expand the program of smallpox immunization to include polio, measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines. That program now reaches more than four out of five children in the world and is eradicating poliomyelitis. This unique book is to be treasured—a personal and true story that proves that through cooperation and perseverance the most daunting of obstacles can be overcome.

Life and Death of Smallpox

Life and Death of Smallpox PDF Author: Ian Glynn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781437965681
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
No other disease has had such a long, dramatic and terrible history as smallpox. Mozart, Voltaire, Elizabeth I and Abraham Lincoln all had it -- and survived. Millions did not. Edward Jenner¿s breakthrough in 1796 started the process of controlling the virus. The practice of `vaccinating¿ with cowpox spread around the world quickly, and in 1979 smallpox became the first ever infectious disease to be eradicated -- a magnificent and so far a unique scientific and political achievement. Yet now its possible use in biological warfare presents a major threat. There remains no effective cure for smallpox. This book tells the fascinating and frightening story of this terrifying disease. ¿A brilliant mixture of history, science and politics.¿ Illustrations.

House on Fire

House on Fire PDF Author: William H. Foege
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520268369
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
“Bill Foege takes us inside the world's greatest public health triumph: the eradication of smallpox. It's a story of true determination, passion and courage. The story of smallpox should encourage all of us to continue the critical work of worldwide disease eradication.”--Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “Bill Foege is one of the public health giants of our times. He was responsible for the design of the campaign that eradicated smallpox—the most important global health achievement in history and possibly the greatest feat in any field of international cooperation. His insights into the nature of this major event will undoubtedly help to meet the global health challenges of the 21st century.”—Julio Frenk, M.D, PhD, Dean, Harvard School of Public Health “The eradication of a disease has long been the holy grail of global health and Bill Foege found it: more than any other person, he was responsible for the eradication of smallpox from the face of the earth. This is a story told by a remarkably humble man, about the extraordinary coalition that he helped to build, and the most impressive global health accomplishment the world has ever seen.”—Mark Rosenberg, author of Real Collaboration: What It Takes for Global Health to Succeed “I am thrilled that Bill Foege, one of the great heroes of the smallpox eradication campaign, has written this important book. It tells a beautiful human story of an incredible public health triumph, and is full of lessons that could be applied to many of the global challenges we face today.”—Helene D. Gayle MD, President and CEO, CARE USA “Bill Foege’s House on Fire is the first-hand account of how a revised strategy to eradicate smallpox was tested, validated, and applied. Without the global adoption of this new surveillance strategy, the final deathblow to this longtime global menace might never have been dealt.”—Adetokunbo O. Lucas, MD, DSc, author of It Was The Best of Times: From Local to Global Health “Smallpox is the most devastating disease the world has known, as it destroyed lives and shaped history over the centuries. House on Fire provides a day-to-day account by my friend Dr. Bill Foege of the battle required to defeat this wily and diabolic virus."--President Jimmy Carter

The Demon in the Freezer

The Demon in the Freezer PDF Author: Richard Preston
Publisher: Fawcett
ISBN: 0345466632
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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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.

Smallpox

Smallpox PDF Author: Donald Ainslie Henderson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781591027225
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Foreword by Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone; Preface by David M. Oshinsky. The personal story of how Dr Henderson led the World Health Organization's campaign to eradicate smallpoxthe only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated.

Pox Americana

Pox Americana PDF Author: Elizabeth A. Fenn
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780809078219
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
A horrifying epidemic of smallpox was sweeping across the Americas when the War of Independence began, and yet little is known about it. Fenn reveals how deeply "variola" affected the outcome of the war in every colony and the lives of everyone in North America. Illustrations.

The Last Days of Smallpox

The Last Days of Smallpox PDF Author: Mark Pallen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781980455226
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
The last naturally occurring case of smallpox was diagnosed in Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital cook in the picturesque seaport of Merca, Somalia, on 26 October 1977. But in August 1978, the smallpox virus crept like a thief in the night from a laboratory in Birmingham to re-inhabit human flesh and blood. What happened next has all the hallmarks of a Greek drama or Shakespearean tragedy, with the shocking but mysterious appearance of a dreaded disease in the heart of England; a frantic effort to save a city--and the world--from disaster; a tragic heroine, a photographer, who suffered a hideous fate; and a tragic hero, a virology professor, driven to despair to mortifying despair, treated as a scapegoat during an official enquiry, but later exonerated in a court of law. Here, I give a full account of the 1978 Birmingham smallpox outbreak and the ensuing court case, drawn from records of the time and the reminiscences of those who lived through it. "A complete and rational account... sets the record straight, provides closure"Keith Dumbell, University of Cape Town "A riveting account of the mystery, the politics and the legal implications of the Birmingham event."Stanley Falkow, University of Stanford "Thoroughly engrossing--a high-quality detective story, with a nice human touch" Robin May, University of Birmingham "A book full of humanity... and of anger at the smallpox virus and the misery it caused."Soad Tabaqchali, emeritus professor, St Bartholomew's Hospital "An engaging book that weaves the scientific, social, political and historical context into a multi-layered narrative."Conall McCaughey, Queens University Belfast "The biographical material on the protagonists is superb. It makes it come alive. Janet Parker is not just a name, a Madonna to be sacrificed, but a real person." Brian Escott-Cox QC

The Greatest Killer

The Greatest Killer PDF Author: Donald R. Hopkins
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022618952X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
Once known as the "great fire" or "spotted death," smallpox has been rivaled only by plague as a source of supreme terror. Although naturally occurring smallpox was eradicated in 1977, recent terrorist attacks in the United States have raised the possibility that someone might craft a deadly biological weapon from stocks of the virus that remain in known or perhaps unknown laboratories. In The Greatest Killer, Donald R. Hopkins provides a fascinating account of smallpox and its role in human history. Starting with its origins 10,000 years ago in Africa or Asia, Hopkins follows the disease through the ancient and modern worlds, showing how smallpox removed or temporarily incapacitated heads of state, halted or exacerbated wars, and devastated populations that had never been exposed to the disease. In Hopkins's history, smallpox was one of the most dangerous-and influential-factors that shaped the course of world events.