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1-Page Summary of The Demon In The Freezer
Overall Summary
Richard Preston’s book, The Demon in the Freezer, is about bioweapons and epidemics. He describes a recent attack of anthrax that occurred early in October 2001. Researchers at USAMRIID were worried that there might be smallpox as well, which would be much more deadly than anthrax bacteria.
Preston then focuses on smallpox. Smallpox outbreaks occurred in the early 1970s, but eradicators were able to contain them and drive the virus out of Asia. The last naturally occurring case was reported in 1977, though there are no guarantees that other countries don’t have samples of the disease.
In the 1990s, it became clear to researchers that Russia had developed a bioweapons program using long-range missiles. The question was whether or not to destroy existing stocks of smallpox and send a message of cooperation with other countries, or to keep these stockpiles for further research in case there’s an outbreak someday. D.A. Henderson believed the former approach would be better because doing so would show that we’re willing to work together on this issue and avoid future problems by destroying any remaining samples; Peter Jahrling believed more research into smallpox was necessary because we don’t know enough about how it works yet, which could lead us to underestimate its danger in the future if someone were able to develop new strains of it as weapons against people.
Preston explains in the final stages of The Demon in the Freezer that although smallpox was involved with the anthrax attack, it wasn’t really smallpox. However, he still thinks that there is a threat because people can modify and change it to make it more powerful than before. It’s up to human nature to prevent a future crisis involving this disease.
Chapter 1: Something in the Air
The author’s account begins by describing the life of Robert Stevens, a tabloid photographer who worked for National Enquirer. He was struck with an illness that progressed rapidly through his body and killed him. A group at the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that he had died from exposure to anthrax spores. The CDC team also found out about Stevens’ previous employment at American Media, where they discovered anthrax in their mail system as well.”
In October 2001, an anthrax letter was sent to the offices of Senator Tom Daschle. Similar letters were also sent to other media outlets and government officials. The FBI gathered samples from the letter addressed to Daschle’s office and took them to USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases), where they were handed over to a researcher named John Ezzell. Peter Jahrling, USAMRIID’s senior scientist, along with Colonel Ed Eitzen decided that instead of calling the anthrax weaponized or dangerous, they would describe it as energetic and professional in nature.
Jarhling was worried about more than the anthrax itself. He was especially concerned that it had been laced with smallpox, which has been eradicated but is generally considered to be one of the most devastating diseases known to man. Jahrling had spent a lot of time researching remedies for smallpox outbreaks in case they occurred again. Therefore, he assigned Tom Geisbert to use an electron microscope and determine if there were any traces of smallpox in this apparent bioweapon.
Chapter 2: The Dreaming Demon
In 1970, a man in his twenties named Peter Los (a pseudonym assigned by Preston) returned to Germany after spending time with other young people interested in communes and counter-culture. He had studied to become an electrician, but was struck with hepatitis while traveling through India. After he settled back into his small hometown of Meschede, an illness that began as red patches on the body and eventually produced groups of pustules broke out over his body. Los was quarantined at the St. Walberga hospital, while a sample taken from him was transported to Karl Heinz Richter, who confirmed that Los had been stricken with smallpox.
