Scourge: The Once And Future Threat Of Smallpox [Hardcover]

This book starts with a very brief history of smallpox and its biology. It was a little too brief for my tastes, as the role of smallpox in history was probably quite important. The history that is discussed is quite US-centric (although I did appreciate that Canada might partly owe its existence to smallpox, thanks to illness in the war of 1812).

The next part of the book talks about the effort in the 60's and 70's to eradicate smallpox around the globe. By that time, all 1st and 2nd world countries had successfully vaccinated their populations against smallpox. That left several large pockets of the disease in tropical areas (South America, Africa, and Asia). Despite a large amount of skepticism, the WHO agreed to try and eradicate this virus. What made it uniquely vulnerable was the fact that, unlike malaria or ebola or yellow fever, it is a completely human disease. So there were no unknown animal reservoirs to worry about. Once it was gone from human populations, it was gone. This is the best part of the book, and the eradication of wild smallpox stands as one of the greatest medical triumphs in history, and one of the greatest triumphs of the 20th Century.

The last part of the book is how the USSR started research on using smallpox as a WOMD. Then, when time came in the early-mid 90s to destroy the last remaining known stores of smallpox in the US and Russia, both countries balked. Military morons had incredible hard-ons for the potential of the virus. That, or they were stupidly afraid of it being used against them. Smallpox still exists today because of them and equally moronic scientists who put their petty careers and/or ridiculous ideals of Ivory Tower science ahead of a very simple fact- if smallpox ever got out in any serious way, the world would be screwed. We no longer vaccinate against it, and resistance is lost after 10 years without vaccination. Without enough vaccine to go around, this virus (with a potential 30% mortality rate) could make every other bad event in history look like a cupcake parade. We're talking major global meltdown. Some buffoons even argued that it's wrong to deliberately make a species go extinct. Forget that we callously are doing that all the time, in huge numbers, but this is one of our very worst enemies. So long. If I was the US, I would have taken the moral high ground of destroying the virus. I would then have announced that anyone found with the virus would have 30 days to comply, to the US's satisfaction, that it was destroyed, or have their country turned into nuclear glass. With Russia, just buy the darn stuff from them for some huge sum of money. They still have nukes that can give them their WOMD, this would remove the possibility that rogue states or terrorists could gain access to the Russian viruses. Suffice to say, no one in favor of keeping the viral stocks ever had any first-hand exposure to the effects of the virus on individuals or human populations (e.g., the many various countries where it was recently eradicated are all dead-set against keeping viral stocks anywhere on the planet).

But, as usual, short-sighted policies, bureaucratic maneuvering, and hideously foolish military policies have so far won the day. We still have to look forward for the day when we can say that smallpox is extinct. 100%. Completely.

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

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.