Inside the Hot Zone

Mark G. Kortepeter is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a retired army colonel with more than twenty-five years of service. He is an expert in germ warfare defense and has held multiple leadership roles at the nation’s largest containment laboratory dedicated to biological warfare defense, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).

• List of IllustrationsForewordPrologue: ExposureChapter 1: BeginningsChapter 2: Germs as WeaponsChapter 3: The Six ""Chessmen"" of DoomChapter 4: HoofbeatsChapter 5: The Queen StrikesChapter 6: The Nation's Bio-Emergency HotlineChapter 7: The Pawn Comes CallingChapter 8: Bioweapons 101Chapter 9: Preparing for Biological WarfareChapter 10: Disaster from WithinChapter 11: Bow to King SmallpoxChapter 12: On the Front LinesChapter 13: Desert PneumoniaChapter 14: The 4M DisasterChapter 15: CountermeasuresChapter 16: The SlammerChapter 17: On the Hot SideChapter 18: Descent into HellChapter 19: SuspicionChapter 20: The AftermathChapter 21: Down for the CountChapter 22: Behind the Scenes of Pandemic ResponseChapter 23: Looking Forward – The Challenges ContinueAfterwordEndnotesGlossary of Terms and AcronymsAcknowledgementsIndex

"To understand and appreciate the bravery of the scientists working to protect our nation from such bio-epidemics, as well as how the U.S. military goes about protecting its troops from such threats, Inside the Hot Zone is a terrifying, but indispensable guide."-Joshua Sinai, Washington Times "Inside the Hot Zone is very well written and covers sufficient background about the author’s journey, his medical credentials, and simplified explanations of medical diseases and associated protocols. . . . I highly recommend this to all members of the military regardless of rank or branch of service."-Lt. Col. George Hodge, Military Review “Writing in a style reminiscent of The Coming Plague, Kortepeter sheds new light on the horrors of bioweapons, on the inner workings of the federal bureaucracy, and on the insiders’ views of the anthrax attacks. His expertise and experiences make Inside the Hot Zone compelling reading for anyone interested in scientific, medical, or military thrillers. And, scariest of all, the thrills are real.”-Ted Cieslak, MD, Col. (Ret.) U.S. Army, medical co-director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and medical director of the Nebraska Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center “Absolutely riveting. Dr. Kortepeter tells a fascinating story. . . . If you want to know what it is to be part of this exceptional team of heroic Americans working in the ‘hot zone,’ you should read this book.”-Lester Martinez-Lopez, MD, MPH, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) U.S. Army, and former commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland “Col. Kortepeter’s inside story from the front lines of our nation’s defense against the real and increasing threat of biological weapons is fascinating. He gives voice in lucid prose to the unsung heroes working tirelessly at the world’s best biodefense research center at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Their mission is to keep America safe, and our nation owes them an enormous debt of gratitude.”-Andy Weber, former assistant secretary of defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs “With extraordinary imagination, a deep knowledge of his subject, and riveting personal accounts of headline-making events in the search for protection against biologic weapons-both manmade and natural-Dr. Mark Kortepeter has written a gripping book. . . . The novice as well as the most experienced student of biological weapons will emerge from a reading of this book better informed, profoundly grateful for the courage and expertise of these ‘soldiers in the trenches,’ and surprisingly entertained.”-Eric B. Schoomaker, MD, PhD, Lt. Gen. U.S. Army (Ret.), 42nd Army Surgeon General and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command “While Richard Preston’s book The Hot Zone very effectively brought the importance of high containment virus work into the living rooms of America, it was heavily sensationalized and far from what actually occurs in a real BSL-4 laboratory. Dr. Kortepeter paints a much more accurate picture as seen from the inside by the staff who do the dangerous work on a daily basis.”-Thomas Geisbert, PhD, expert in Ebola and other high containment viruses at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston National Laboratory