Anthrax. The Investigation Of A Deadly Outbreak

In april of 1979 the city of Sverdlovsk in Russia's Ural Mountains was struck by a frightening anthrax epidemic. Official documents reported 64 human deaths resulting from the ingestion of tainted meat sold on the black market, but rumor told a different story and lack of documentation left unresolved questions. In her riveting investigation of the incident, Jeanne Guillemin unravels the mystery of what really happened during that tragic event in Sverdlovsk. Anthrax is a virulent and deadly disease. Anthrax bacteria can remain in soil for as long as 70 years, then eventually can pass from grazing animals to humans who ingest them. It can also spread through inhalation of airborne microscopic spores or those buried in soil, wool, or hides. Although natural outbreaks still occur, they are rare; contemporary concern is riveted on anthrax as a biological weapon. Along with a team of doctors and researchers led by Harvard biologist Matthew Meselson, Jeanne Guillemin traveled to Russia in 1992 to determine the cause and extent of the epidemic. As the team's medical anthropologist, she investigated the whereabouts of the victims and tracked the disease's progression. Because most hospital records had been lost or confiscated by the KGB, Guillemin began the arduous task of locating those who perished by gathering names at cemetery grave sites. Through persistent effort she found many of the victims' families and gently elicited their often emotional accounts of the outbreak. Guillemin's affecting narrative transforms a case of epidemiological investigation into a politically charged mystery. She creates a vivid sense of immediacy and drama with her firsthand accounts of the team's investigations-analysis of pathology photos and slides, meetings with political officials, and talks attending doctors-and by candidly revealing her emotions as she conducts interviews, visits sites, and interacts with those suspected of clouding the truth. As the team's investigation coalesces, we discern the truths of the event. This book bas timely implications in an era of growing concern over chemical and biological weapons. In the final chapters Guillemin surveys the covert arsenals scattered around the world, and the cooperative attempts by governments to control their development. As the drama ends, the reader is left to contemplate isolated acts by cults and individual terrorists that stimulate a fear of more widespread and uncontainable use of such weaponry.