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

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

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 1998

The commander of the Army virology unit that battled Ebola in The Hot Zone--and current director of Special Pathogens at the CDC--teams up with the bestselling co-author of Mind Hunter to chronicle his extraordinary thirty-year career fighting deadly viruses.

Currently the head of Special Pathogens at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, C. J. Peters has been on the front lines of our biological war against hot viruses for three decades in South America, the U.S., and Africa. In Virus Hunter, he recounts his lifelong battle against these deadly and invisible agents--and the all-too-often equally dangerous bureaucratic turf wars that have at times escalated the conflict and exacerbated epidemics. From investigating Venezuelan equine encephalitis and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever to containing Ebola in Reston, Virginia, and the deadly hantavirus in the Southwestern U.S., Peters offers a fascinating array of stories about the clash between biology and bureaucracy--and the threat emerging viruses pose to our species.

Written with bestselling co-author Mark Olshaker (Mind Hunter), Virus Hunter is a first person memoir by one of the leading virologists in the Ebola outbreak and a dramatic complement to the mega-bestseller 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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 323 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1 edition (April 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385485581
• ISBN-13: 978-0385485586
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,370 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.