The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story

The more fake or failed lymph failed to protect people against smallpox, the more cowpox fell into ill repute. “While the deluded patient vainly supposed himself secured from the attacks of the smallpox, his imaginary safety leads him into situations where his life is endangered,” Waterhouse wrote, leaving vaccination open to doubt or “contempt”. The worst failure occurred at Marblehead, Massachusetts, which suffered a disastrous smallpox outbreak during a vaccination campaign. Using “virus” that his seafaring son had taken from a pustule on the arm of a sailor vaccinated in London, Dr. Elisha Story vaccinated his daughter on October 2, 1800. Two weeks later she broke out with what Story believed was cowpox but was actually smallpox. Waterhouse was meanwhile supplying Story with vaccine that was either contaminated or inactive. The epidemic eventually sickened 1,000 people, killing 68 of

In his book, The Great Influenza, John M. Barry speaks of the work of scientists with the sort of reverence and respect of one who understands the complexity and greatness of their work. He uses juxtaposition and conceit to present the adversity and nobility inherent to scientific research. In addition, he portrays this research as potentially thankless work.

I looked at everything I could access related to smallpox. The writings included many references to

Viruses, Plagues, and History, written by Michael Oldstone, is an insightful and highly educational book that details the history of, that’s right, viruses and plagues. Through typically dry, yet engaging prose, Oldstone recounts what seems like all of it while simultaneously bringing to light the contributions of those brave scientists who asked themselves, “why.” He focuses his attention on some of the most notable viruses such as smallpox, yellow fever, measles, polio, and later he focuses on more contemporary battles against disease.

The book is primarily an account of the Smallpox Eradication Program (1967–80), the ongoing perception by the U.S. government that smallpox is still a potential bioterrorism agent, and the controversy over whether or not the remaining samples of smallpox virus in Atlanta and Moscow (the “demon” in the freezer) should be finally destroyed.

In her book, Pox Americana, Elizabeth A. Fenn takes on the challenge of writing about a little-known topic with large gaps in the existing research. Fenn states in the foreword that the previous research about smallpox focused on specific locations, "often with vague but tantalizing references to a larger background pandemic." I commend Fenn on her attempt to write about that large epidemic and I think that she successfully combined the facts and figures that spanned an entire hemisphere into her book.

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.

In a response to the polio outbreak of 1916, Dr. Haven Emerson, the Health Commissioner for New York City, stated: “we have learned little that is new about the disease, but much that is old about ourselves.” The meaning of this has to do with the ideology that no matter the era, people have a common response to the outbreak of contagious disease. Human nature supplies us as humans with a common reaction to dealing with disease, and it is one that can be seen during the Black Death, polio epidemics, and ebola epidemics, as well as many other epidemics. These responses can be both positive and negative, and often have to do with containment of the disease, preventative measures - which may or may not be effective; and scapegoating. Although there may be individualized responses for each of these diseases, the way in which the health-care officers and the public handle the outbreak of disease generally follows the same pattern overall.

Human experimentation has a history of scandal that often shapes people’s views of the ethics of research. Often the earliest cited case is English physician Edward Jenner’s development of the smallpox vaccine in 1796,where he injected an eight-year-old boy child with pus taken from a cowpox infection and then deliberately exposed her to an infected carrier of smallpox. Although Jenner’s experiment was successful and it confirmed his theory, the method of

Characters and civilians that are depicted in this book show their fear of the virus, which subsequently brings about danger in many situations. When telling of the thoughts and emotions of workers in contact with the virus, the author provides this example to show the level of fright in these researchers. “The organism was too frightening to handle, even for those who were comfortable and adept in space suits.” This example explains the mentality of those working with the virus, and the great risk placed upon them. Furthermore, Preston shows how fear of this

I recently read an article written in The NEWYORKER called The Deadliest Virus by Michael Specter. The article talked about the Avian Flu virus, also known as “bird flu”. In the article, Specter interviewed many people, but the most important person, in my opinion, is a virologist who conducted research on the Avian Flu, Ron Fouchier. This article raised many ethical questions. The questions are as followed: Should research be conducted on this virus? Does Fouchier’s research pose a threat? Does the risk of the work outweigh the benefits of the research?

Despite smallpox’s long history of harm, killing nearly 300 million people in the twentieth century alone, it is now considered eradicated thanks to a vaccine and vaccination program lead by the World Health Organization. Because of its eradication,

Imagine a quick spreading rash throughout the entire body, leaving not a single space behind; every opening and crevice in your body, including your mouth and eyes covered in painful bumps accompanied by high fever and severe body aches. Flat red spots transforming into fluid-filled lesions and soon oozing out yellow pus, evidently emitting a pungent odor to anyone who dared get close. The live virus present in the darkening crusty scabs that would soon fall off only to leave behind a deep pitted scarred filled complexion on anyone who was fortunate enough to survive. These scars would be forever remembered as the hallmark for the smallpox epidemic which tormented the world for over 3,000 years. (Riedel “Deadly Diseases”).

If the story of Mary Mallon was kind of familiar to me (in epidemiology class we watched this play in person), “HIV Jane” article was just like eye-opening experience, it made me to look at this problem in a much broader social, cultural and economic milieu. I fully agree that in spite of being different in some aspects these two stories have many things in common. If we try to apply the same concepts to Smallpox or influenza I think the voluntary isolation will be “much easier” to apply, because diseases such as typhoid and HIV are chronic ones (unlike Smallpox and influenza). Because Smallpox or Influenza is aerosol/airborne transmissible diseases, the whole hierarchy of infection prevention and control measures (elimination of potential

As the NCE for Infectious Disease in Underserved Communities represents two of six institutional priorities – One Health: Solutions at the Animal-Human-Environment Inferface, and Indigenous Peoples: Engagement and Scholarship - the UofS is confident in its ability to provide long-term support for the NCE to ensure its sustainability and growth. The UofS has the broadest diversity of colleges relevant to heath research (7) on Canadian campus as well as VIDO-InterVac. At its heart, VIDO focuses on the development of infectious disease and vaccines research in small and large animals and human health; InterVac, constructed in the last 5 years, in Canada’s only university based containment level 3 facility which allows for the study of more dangerous pathogens. Added health research facilities include the CLS’s Biomedical Imaging and Therapy Beamline (BMIT; $20M), the only one of its kind in North America with the ability to provide in vivo, full-field imaging of everything from small pathogens to large animals; the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s recent $7.6M investment in the development of a world-class diagnostic laboratory; the $388M Academic Health Sciences Centre, a nexus that brings together bench scientists, community engaged-researchers, and clinician-researchers; the new Respiratory Research Centre (initial funding $1.5M), a patient oriented, intersectional initiative that fosters respiratory research; as well as the Saskatchewan