An ASA Book Review by: Professor John Ellis van Courtland Moon Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

摘要

Germs, a fascinating account and analysis of the bioterrorist threat, was written and released before the horrific events of 11 September 2001 and the subsequent anthrax incidents. The accidental timing of its publication has contributed to placing it on the New York Times best seller list. the narrative is largely chronological, stretching from the end of World War II to the present. While the authors convey a sense of simultaneous developments, each chapter is skill-fully focused. Chapter 1 describes a little publicized event: the 1984 poisoning with salmonella of salad bars in Wasco County, Oregon, by the Rajhnee-shees, a religious cult, an attack which made 751 people ill. Although the attack was non lethal, the cult fanatic, Ma Anand Puja, had ordered far more dangerous agents. The subsequent investigation did not uncover the causes of the subsequent illnesses until a year later. This incident provided a frightening forecast of the dangers posed by bioterrorism and of the difficulties in detecting and countering it in a timely manner.