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foreword by William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense

"Biological warfare is probably the most serious direct threat to U.S.national security, and no one knows more about this threat than JoshuaLederberg." -- Leslie H. Gelb, President, Council on Foreign Relations

Biological weapons pose a horrifying and growing threat to the UnitedStates and to the world in general. Revelations about Iraq's weaponsresearch and the plans of the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan serve asfrightening reminders of the potential for military or terrorist use ofbiological agents.

The essays in this book, many of which were originally published in theJournal of the American Medical Association, examine the medical,scientific, and political dimensions of limiting the threat posed bybiological weapons. The contributors consider the current threat posedby biological weapons, the history of attempts to control them, episodesin which biological agents have been used, Iraq's biological warfareprogram, and policies that the United States might pursue to reduce thethreat.

Contributors: Suzanne Barth, Pamela Berkowsky, Kristin A. Birkness,Stephen Black, W. Russell Byrne, W. Seth Carus, Marie Chevrier, GeorgeW. Christopher, Theodore J. Cieslak, Richard Danzig, Edward M. Eitzen,Jr., Charles C. Engel, James R. Ferguson, Laurence R. Foster, David R.Franz, Arthur M. Friedlander, Carol S. Fullerton, Jeanne Guillemin,Charles E. Haley, Harry C. Holloway, David L. Hoover, John M. Horan,Martin Hugh-Jones, Peter B. Jahrling, Robert P. Kadlec, Akiko Kimura,Shellie A. Kolavic, Alexander Langmuir, John R. Livengood, Karl Lowe,Steven Mauvais, David J. McClain, Matthew Meselson, Ann E. Norwood,Julie A. Pavlin, Graham S. Pearson, Ilona Popova, Alexis Shelokov,Jeffrey D. Simon, Shauna L. Simons, Michael R. Skeels, LaurenceSlutsker, Robert Sokolow, Robert V. Tauxe, Thomas J. Török,Jonathan B. Tucker, Robert J. Ursano, Victor Utgoff, Ann M. Vrtis,Robert P. Wise, Olga Yampolskaya, Allan P. Zellicoff, Raymond A.Zilinskas ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Student's Must-Have Handbook
Biological Weapons:Limiting the Threat is an excellent source of information for the student concerned with national security and/or terrorism issues.Joshua Lederberg has done an excellent job of editingthe various chapters; all of them informative.What makes this book standapart from others is that Biological Weapons was originally a series ofarticles written for the American Medical Association, a departure from thenorm that is the political/sociological field.The book does justice tovarious issues centered on BW warfare, such as methods of deployment,historical analyses of past events, and so on.The only qualm that I haveas a reader was that after reading a number of chapters, many of thechapters focused on the same events, causing some repetition, though notthe fault of the editor or the authors, each of them writing and reviewingthe chapters as works capable of standing on their own.All in all, a bookworth acquiring for a library specializing in international securityissues. ... Read more

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Based on a workshop on the Forum on Emerging Infections, held February 1-2, 2001. Provides information on the dynamics of disease eradication and post-immunization policies. Softcover. DNLM: Communicable Disease Controll--trends--Congresses. ... Read more

Book Description
Dr. Joshua Lederberg - scientist, Nobel laureate, visionary thinker, and friend of the Forum on Microbial Threats - died on February 2, 2008. It was in his honor that the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop on May 20-21, 2008, to examine Dr. Lederberg's scientific and policy contributions to the marketplace of ideas in the life sciences, medicine, and public policy. The resulting workshop summary, Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation, demonstrates the extent to which conceptual and technological developments have, within a few short years, advanced our collective understanding of the microbiome, microbial genetics, microbial communities, and microbe-host-environment interactions. ... Read more

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Zoonotic diseases represent one of the leading causes of illness and death from infectious disease. Defined by the World Health Organization, zoonoses are "those diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man with or without an arthropod intermediate." Worldwide, zoonotic diseases have a negative impact on commerce, travel, and economies. In most developing countries, zoonotic diseases are among those diseases that contribute significantly to an already overly burdened public health system. In industrialized nations, zoonotic diseases are of particular concern for at-risk groups such as the elderly, children, childbearing women, and immunocompromised individuals."The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases: Understanding the Impact on Animal and Human Health", covers a range of topics, which include: an evaluation of the relative importance of zoonotic diseases against the overall backdrop of emerging infections; research findings related to the current state of our understanding of zoonotic diseases; surveillance and response strategies to detect, prevent, and mitigate the impact of zoonotic diseases on human health; and, information about ongoing programs and actions being taken to identify the most important needs in this vital area. ... Read more

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The First Edition of the Encyclopedia of Microbiology was hailed by leading scientists and researchers around the world as "excellent," "outstanding," and "impressive." This Second Edition will serve as an up-to-date version of this reference which has been useful to academic, industrial, and personal libraries for years. The Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Second Edition both challenges and stimulates the reader, and illustrates the importance of microbiology, a field that cannot be over emphasized in this booming biotechnology age.

Key Features
* Completely redesigned and revised approach with 65% new material
* Contains approximately 300 articles, 1000 illustrations, and 400 tables
* New design includes thematic table of contents, combined glossary of terms, and appendix
* Provides color plate sections in each volume
* 17 subject areas, including exciting coverage of microbes in extreme environments and microbes in emerging infections ... Read more

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(Institute of Medicine) Summarizes the fifth workshop of the Forum on Emerging Infections, held in October 1999. Examines the international aspects of emerging infections and the forces driving these diseases to prominence from the global to the local levels. Softcover. ... Read more

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Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of prolonged illness, premature mortality, and soaring health costs. In the United States in 1995, infectious diseases were the third leading cause of death, right behind heart disease and cancer. Mortality is mounting over time, owing to HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, and septicemia, with drug resistance playing an ever-increasing role in each of these disease categories.This book, a report from a Forum on Emerging Infections workshop, focuses on product areas where returns from the market might be perceived as being too small or too complicated by other factors to compete in industrial portfolios with other demands for investment. Vaccines are quintessential examples of such products. The lessons learned fall into four areas, including what makes intersectoral collaboration a reality, the notion of a product life cycle, the implications of divergent sectoral mandates and concepts of risk, and the roles of advocacy and public education. The summary contains an examination of the Children's Vaccine Initiative and other models, an industry perspective on the emerging infections agenda, and legal and regulatory issues. ... Read more

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Antibiotic resistance is neither a surprising nor a new phenomenon. It is an increasingly worrisome situation, however, because resistance is growing and accelerating, while the world's tools for combating it decrease in power and number. In addition, the cost of the problem - especially of multidrug resistance - in terms of money, mortality, and disability are also rising. This book summarizes a workshop on antimicrobial resistance held by the Forum on Emerging Infections. The goal of the Forum on Emerging Infections is to provide an opportunity for representatives of academia, industry, government, and professional and interest groups to examine and discuss scientific and policy dilemmas of common interest that are specifically related to research on and the prevention, detection, and management of emerging infections. Organized as a topic-by-topic synthesis of presentations and exchanges during the workshop, the book highlights lessons learned, delineates a range of pivotal issues and the problems they raise, and proposes some simplified ideas about possible responses. ... Read more

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Based on a Workshop of the Forum on Emerging Infections, this document summaries the examination of the core capabilities of the public and private health sectors in emerging infectious disease surveillance and response. Date and site of the workshop is not cited. Softcover. ... Read more

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Sir Archibald Garrod's first book, Inborn Errors of Metabolism (Oxford , 1908; reprint 1963), established chemical individuality as the paradigm of Mendelian variation. At the end of his career, Garrod wrote Inborn Factors in Disease (1931), in which he set out his belief that chemical individuality could result in individuals having a predisposition to certain diseases.It was not well received at the time, but now that many infectious diseases which have been the scourge of previous generations have been controlled, the relative importance of genetic disease has increased dramatically, while the establishment of recombinant DNA methods has made it possible to identify inherited defects and risks in the genes of individuals and families.How these individuals and their families can be helped is a major challenge for today's medicine and for society.Thus, it is timely to reprint Garrod's own words which anticipated that challenge so well.This facsimile reprint contains the entire original text, along with historical commentary and observations regarding Garrod's relevance today. ... Read more

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When J. B. S. Haldane's Daedalus or Science and the Future was first published in 1923, it was greeted by instant controversy due to its predictions of future scientific developments--including "test-tube" babies. Now Haldane's Daedalus Revisited combines a reprint of that classic work together with a discussion by world-renowned scientists (including two Nobel laureates) regarding its relevance today and what it tells us about the complex relationship between technology, society, and politics. Including contributions from Joshua Lederberg, M.F. Perutz, Freeman Dyson and Ernest Mayr, Elof Carlson, David Weatherall, N. Avrion Mitchison, and the editor, Krishna Rao Dronamraju, the book offers a unique, thought-provoking examination of how predictions can have a dramatic impact on the development of science, technology, politics, and our philosophy of ethics in general. All students, teachers, and researchers in the biomedical sciences, ethics, social science, science history, and ethics will want to read this book. ... Read more

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The emergence of HIV disease and AIDS, the reemergence of tuberculosis, and the increased opportunity for disease spread through international travel demonstrate the critical importance of global vigilance for infectious diseases. This volume highlights risk factors for the emergence of microbial threats to health, warns against complacency in public health, and promotes early prevention as a cost-effective and crucial strategy for maintaining public health in the United States and worldwide. The volume identifies infectious disease threats posed by bacteria and viruses, as well as protozoans, helminths, and fungi. Rich in information, it includes a historical perspective on infectious disease, with focuses on Lyme disease, peptic ulcer, malaria, dengue, and recent increases in tuberculosis.The panel discusses how "new" diseases arise and how "old" ones resurge and considers the roles of human demographics and behavior, technology and industry, economic development and land use, international travel and commerce, microbial adaptation and change, and breakdown of public health measures in changing patterns of infectious disease.Also included are discussions and recommendations on disease surveillance; vaccine, drug, and pesticide development; vector control; public education and behavioral change; research and training; and strengthening of the U.S. public health system. This volume will be of immediate interest to scientists specializing in all areas of infectious dieseases and microbiology, healthy policy specialists, public health officials, physicians, and medical faculty and students, as well as anyone interested in how their health can be threatened by infectious diseases. ... Read more

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Following up on a high-profile 1992 report from the Institute of Medicine, text examines the current state of knowledge and policy pertaining to infectious diseases. Discusses the spectrum of microbial threats, factors in disease emergence, and the capacity of the United States to meet the challenges of microbial threats. DNLM: Communicable Diseases, Emerging--epidemiology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Textbook for grad school
Very interesting information, but very difficult for someone looking to read lightly about epidemiology. I love it! I kept it after the class for reference.

What's not to like?
This document is a report written by the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences.It highlights the 13 current reasons for the emergence and re-emergence of microbial disease.My only problem is whith this book is that it didn't highlight the "Lack of political will" chapter enough.Most of the other 12 reasons could be controlled if we as a globe could overcome the "Lack of political will".Read this book, be alarmed and talk to your government.This is GLOBAL health we're talking about! ... Read more