Suchergebnisse

The threat of bioterrorism, long ignored and denied, has heightened over the past few years. Recent events in Iraq, Japan, and Russia cast an ominous shadow. Two candidate agents are of special concern--smallpox and anthrax. The magnitude of the problems and the gravity of the scenarios associated with release of these organisms have been vividly portrayed by two epidemics of smallpox in Europe during the 1970s and by an accidental release of aerosolized anthrax from a Russian bioweapons facility in 1979. Efforts in the United States to deal with possible incidents involving bioweapons in the civilian sector have only recently begun and have made only limited progress. Only with substantial additional resources at the federal, state, and local levels can a credible and meaningful response be mounted. For longer-term solutions, the medical community must educate both the public and policy makers about bioterrorism and build a global consensus condemning its use.

WHILE THE EXTENT OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IS GROWING, THIS TREND IS NEITHER NEW NOR UNIFORM. AN ECONOMICALLY BORDERLESS WORLD DOES NOT NOW EXIST, NOR IS IT IN PROSPECT; AND THE WORLD ECONOMY TODAY IS FURTHER AWAY FROM FULL INTEGRATION THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR. WHETHER AND HOW FAR THE TREND TOWARDS INTEGRATION WILL CONTINUE IS NOT PREDETERMINED, BUT DEPENDS ON GOVERNMENTS. THE MOST DIFFICULT ISSUES OF INTEGRATION RELATE TO CROSS-BORDER MIGRATION, WHICH IS NOW A LEADING ITEM ON THE INTERNATIONAL AGENDA.

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Crictal Acclaim -- Contents -- Foreword by Richard Preston -- Preface -- 1. THE DISEASE, THE VIRUS, AND ITS HISTORY -- The Oldest of Scourges and the Most Devastating -- A Case of Smallpox -- The Virus -- How long can the smallpox virus survive? -- Smallpox in Ancient Times -- Smallpox Becomes Endemic -- Smallpox and the Settlement of the New World -- Early Protection against Smallpox -- Variolation -- Jenner's Vaccine -- Needed-A Better Vaccine -- Calves become vaccinia factories -- Better distribution-door-to-door cows -- A heat-stable vaccine -- A Second Form of Smallpox -- Smallpox Begins to Lose Ground -- 2. THE WORLD DECIDES TO ERADICATE SMALLPOX -- The Beginning of the Eradication Saga -- 1953: A Global Eradication Program Is Proposed-and Rejected -- 1958: The Soviet Union Makes a New Proposal to Eradicate Smallpox -- Mission Impossible? -- The US Communicable Disease Center Becomes Engaged with Smallpox -- Concerns about vaccine complications -- The United States Offers to Support a West Africa Program-A Startling Development -- The Director-General Challenges the 1966 Assembly -- 3. CREATING A GLOBAL PROGRAM -- A Program in Its Infancy -- Countries, Fiefdoms, and Short-Circuiting the Bureaucracy -- The Creation of the Program Budget -- How Many Smallpox Cases? -- The Realities of Executing a Simple, Two-Part Strategy -- Mass-vaccination strategy -- Surveillance and containment-a new component -- Availability of Vaccine-An Apparently Soluble Problem Is Anything But -- Vaccination Techniques-There Have to Be Better Ways -- Communication-Conflict and Controversy -- Off and on the World Health Assembly agendas -- Three reporting systems become one -- A surveillance report threatens the whole program -- Diplomatic Challenges-The Cold War and Other Problems.