The Demon in the Freezer Essays - 12595 Words

The Demon In The Freezer Christopher Coble C. K. King High School Abstract 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. Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at Usamriid, a wry virologist who†¦show more content†¦There are many mysteries about the smallpox virus. Since the seventeenth century, doctors have understood that if the pustules merge into sheets across the body the victim will usually die: the virus has split the whole skin. If the victim survives, the pustules turn into scabs and fall off, leaving scars. This is known as ordinary smallpox. Some people develop extreme smallpox, which is loosely called black pox. Doctors separate black pox into two forms -- flat smallpox and hemorrhagic smallpox. In a case of flat smallpox, the skin remains smooth and doesnt pustulate, but it darkens until it looks charred, and it can slip off the body in sheets. In hemorrhagic smallpox, black, unclotted blood oozes or runs from the mouth and other body orifices. Black pox is close to a hundred per cent fatal. If any sign of it appears in the body, the victim will almost certainly die. In the bloody cases, the virus destroys the linings of the throat, the stomach, the intestines, the rectum, and the vagina, and these membranes disintegrate. Fatal smallpox can destroy the bodys entire skin -- both the exterior skin and the interior skin that lines the passages of the body. Smallpox viruss scientific name is variola. It means spotted in Latin, and it was given to the disease by a medieval bishop. The virus, as a life form, comes in two subspecies:Show MoreRelatedDemon in the Freezer Overview1087 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The Demon in the Freezer is a 2002 non-fiction book on the biological weapon agents smallpox and anthrax and how the American government develops defensive measures against them. It was written by journalist Richard Preston, also author of the best-selling book The Hot Zone (1994), about outbreaks of Ebola virus in Africa and Reston, Virginia and the US governments response to them. The book is primarily an account of the Smallpox Eradication Program (1967–80), the ongoing perceptionRead MoreThe Demon in the Freezer: A True Story933 Words   |  4 PagesSection One: 286 In the book, The Demon in the Freezer, there were numerous characters that participated in the given research for smallpox. Throughout the plot, I found Lisa Hensley to be the best character in connection with public health. Lisa Hensley was young, intelligent, and determined in her career. During her educational years, Lisa successfully gained two master’s degrees in public health and a Ph.D. in epidemiology and microbiology (Preston, 2002). Lisa comes from an educational backgroundRead MoreEssay on Fear in Cellar Stairs1021 Words   |  5 Pagesthose boots are not empty. This makes   walking difficult: the road to Hell is painful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In the last stanza, the center of this darkness -- the swollen, humming, huge white freezer big enough for many bodies -- of children, at least (19) -- presents itself to us. The freezer is swollen -- as if gorged on the meat of whatever is inside (the meat of children?): a merciless omnivore (21). What better for the center -- the final level of Hell? It is ironic Read MoreA Day in the Life: Dealing with Migraine and Illegal Medicine1206 Words   |  5 Pagesbrewing. Distracted by the cut and how it came to be, I take a sip of molten lava. Dramatic changes in temperature can be a trigger for migraine spikes, and the blistering liquid inside my mouth sears a path down my throat. I walk over to the freezer with a grimace and put a few ice cubes in the mug. The pounding in my head becomes more insistent. After a minute the coffee and ice become one, and I can drink at my leisure. Its a coin toss whether coffee helps settle my stomach and nerves inRead More Smallpox Viruses Essay2184 Words   |  9 Pagesint/emc/diseases/smallpox/ smallpoxeradication.html McCrary, Van. â€Å"Smallpox and Bioterrorism: A Growing Threat.† 3 Aug. 1999. 6 Nov. 2014 http://ww w.law.uh.edu/health lawperspectives/Bioethics/990803 Smallpox.html Preston, Richard. â€Å"A Demon in the Freezer.† 17 July 2012. 8 Nov. 2014 http://cryptome.org/smallpox-wmd.htm â€Å"Smallpox and Bioterrorism† 6 June 2001. Center for Disease Control. 4 Nov. 2014. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/FactSheet.pdf â€Å"Smallpox Eradication: DestrcutionRead More The Psychology Behind the Serial Killer Essay3244 Words   |  13 Pagesthe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, might classify as â€Å"schizotypal personalities† are the â€Å"visionaries,† the killers who act in response to instructions from inner â€Å"voices† or alter egos. They may claim to be demon possessed, or to be receiving instruction from God, and use this to justify or rationalize their acts of murder. David Berkowitz (The Son of Sam) is a classic example of a delusional personality type. When police searched his apartment in YonkersRead MoreWe Must Obey Our Elders17194 Words   |  69 PagesWorkshop, in Order that Water could be gotten from them with a simple Bucket and a ROPE of HOPE, even if the ElecTRICKERY should Fail. (See: God’s Christmas Present!) Moreover, each Family would have access to a Complex Walk-in Root Cellar/Cooler/Freezer/Ice House Sto rage Dome, in Order to Preserve whatever they might Grow in their Gardens, Vineyards, and Orchards, in Order that they might be Prepared for Droughts and Famines, even if the Great False Economy of Babylon went to Hell! (See: What ISRead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 Pageswas hell. Everyone went ape shit insane. Everyone was killing and raping each other into oblivion, because we were under attack by creatures that was so beyond our understanding! Geez, there were many names given to these undead. Some called them demons, others called them lost souls. With all these names, I found only one that was truly worthy; Zombies. It was a simple word. At the same time it was the most complicated word to enter any human language. I mean just think about it... You say thatRead MoreOcd - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment131367 Words   |  526 Pagescompelled to check newspapers and other sources to determine whether he had inadvertently harmed someone. In another example, a 41-year-old homemaker had an irresistible 24 Phenomenology of Obsessions and Compulsions 25 urge to check her freezer to ensure that no one was locked inside, even though she realized this was a silly idea. This chapter deals with key issues related to the nature of obsessions and compulsions. The critical defining features of obsessional phenomena are presentedRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesthose living alone were up from 13.8 to 17.2 per cent. The number of single parents had almost doubled, from 650 000 to 1.2 million – four times the level of 1969. 146 S T R AT E G I C M A R K E T I N G M A N A G E M E N T had a separate freezer, 8.7 per cent a dishwasher and 30.5 per cent a tumble dryer. Anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with modern car advertising – ‘Nicole’, ‘Size Matters’, etc. – will have noticed that a significant proportion is now targeted at women. More