Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World [Hardcover]

C. J. Peters (Author), Mark Olshaker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 1997

The commander of the army virology unit that battled the Ebola virus in The Hot Zone--and the current Chief of Special Pathogens at the Centers for Disease Control--teams up with the bestselling coauthor of MindHunter to chronicle his extraordinary thirty-year career fighting deadly viruses.

From Central and South America to a deadly outbreak of a mystery virus in the American Southwest, from fieldwork in Egypt and the mountains of Kenya to immobilizing an army unit to stop a gut-wrenching outbreak of Ebola only miles from Washington, D.C., Virus Hunter takes us backstage in the inevitable clash between biology and human lives.

Because of new, emerging viruses, and the return of old, "vanquished" ones for which vaccines do not exist, there remains a very real danger of a new epidemic that could, without proper surveillance and early intervention, spread worldwide virtually overnight.  And the possibility of foreign countries or terrorist groups using deadly airborne viruses that are easily obtained rather than unwieldy explosives looms larger than ever in the future.

High-octane science writing at its most revealing and best, Virus Hunter is a thrilling first-person account of what it is like to be a warrior in the Hot Zone.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Books such as Richard Preston's The Hot Zone thrust the deadly Ebola virus into the spotlight, but they can't match the first-person perspective of Virus Hunter. Author C. J. Peters is an ex-army colonel who has spent his professional life studying deadly pathogens in the lab and in the wild. He spins a drama- and adrenaline-filled true tale of virus hunters, which is gripping despite its occasional tendency to grow verbose and detour into personal history. Peters offers a look at crippling diseases not only through the eyes of a scientist, but also with the perspective of an insider in the defense establishment, painting a chilling picture of the potential of biological terrorism or outright warfare.

From Library Journal

Richard Preston's best-selling The Hot Zone (LJ 8/94) dramatized the 1989 Ebola outbreak among monkeys in Reston, Virginia, and described conflicts between the two men most responsible for dealing with the outbreak, Joe McCormick of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and C.J. Peters of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Eventually, McCormick left the CDC, and Peters assumed his former position there. Now both men have published their sides of the story in their respective memoirs. McCormick's Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC (LJ 7/96) is a somewhat disjointed but gripping account of hair-raising adventures investigating such deadly diseases as Ebola and Lassa Fever in Africa and elsewhere. Peters's adventures, while often exciting, can't match McCormick's in number and variety, but his book is more smoothly written and provides an interesting overview of its author's career and education in the workings of medical bureaucracies. He also provides important insights into the mentality at USAMRIID, formerly a biological warfare center. As Peters reminds us, some emerging diseases possess horrifying potential as agents of biological warfare. Recommended for general readers.?Marit MacArthur, Auraria Lib., Denver
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st Anchor Books ed edition (April 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385485573
• ISBN-13: 978-0385485579
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,977,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Was Expecting, But Still Excellent, April 27, 2003

By 

Imperial Topaz (Marrakesh, Morocco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World (Paperback)

This book was excellent; however, it was not quite what I had expected. I bought it expecting it to read like The Hot Zone. Instead, it turned out to be the autobiography of C.J. Peters, spanning his personal life and career in battling hot viruses. It is a book of memoirs about his career. It was interesting, but did drag a bit in places. It did NOT read like a thriller, as did The Hot Zone.

I am still rating the book five stars, because the last two chapters were the best. They sum up all that he has learned in his career, and make projections into the future. He also discusses extensively throughout his book the political considerations and bureaucracy that all scientists have to deal with. The book was written several years ago, but his imaginary scenario sounds almost exactly like what is currently happening with the SARS virus. He also discusses biological terrorism and chemical and biological warfare, and gives his thoughts about all these things from the perspective of all he has learned in his entire career. These chapters are EXTREMELY pertinent to what is happening today.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Real Perspective on Emerging Infectious Agents, March 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World (Hardcover)

C.J. Peters retold the years of battling emerging infections very well. He explained what the clinical symptoms of the disease were, as well as any additional scientific info about the virus itself. He also told of his battle to stay married while hunting these viruses. I would certainly recommend this book to any aspiring virologists out there, or anyone who is just interested and wants to remain informed.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, December 1, 1999

By 

dkm_in_canada (Burlington, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World (Paperback)

If you thoroughly enjoyed "The Hot Zone" and are now wishing to learn more about viruses (without taking a course) this is the book you're looking for. Scientific, yet entertaining and humane, it is a rare find. Dr. Peters has an extraordinary ability to explain his concepts in such a clear manner as to make it possible for the lay person to understand. I recommend it highly.