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Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World By C.J. PetersC. J. Peters ( Anchor )
Release Date: 1998-04-13
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $15.95
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Product Description
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.
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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.
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 An Amazing Autobiography Filled with Travel Adventure, The History of one Man...and the passion for Virus'
I decided to read more about C.J. Peters after I concluded The Hot Zone; finding myself infatuated with this semi-mysterious, tropical-shirt wearing military officer and virus researcher. I was fascinated by this man whose experience and research will and has changed history.
Despite the unmatched experience, education and brillance of C.J. Peters intellect, I found the tone of this book suprisingly "down to earth" Peters is clearly a scientist who an experienced mentor. I sensed he does not see how extraordinary his life is; only that he is aware he is a man who has pursued his passion.
Having recently read both The Hot Zone (marburg), and Preston's Demon in The Freezer (smallpox), I felt I comprehended the power of airborne virus'. What I gained from Virus Hunter was just how much research, time and passion it takes for scientists to learn about these diseases. The intensity of virus research and trying to save human lives makes for an extraordinary read, particulary from the first hand accounts of a true virus hunter (I found his character truly translates to an Indiana Jones of the viral world...pursuing his subject deep into Brazil, the Sudan, and Virginia...)
Peters shares experiences including communication attempts with people around the world, and a need to relate to their lives. He wrote of adventures trying to reach rural locations in South America. He also respectfully recounts the stories of other scientists who succumbed to virus' illness, and the need for the research community to see these deaths as something to hold in mind while seeking a cure. Clearly attaching specific individuals (whether lab researchers, or individual unnamed patients who he watched die) as representatives of why cures MUST be found.
The only lull in this book is about 3/4 though the early chapter about the Four Corners outbreak, the initial story was intiguing (and as you will see ties distinctly into the entire theme of the book), however, it did drag. This was the ONLY slow part of this book. The rest was amazing.
C.J. Peters is the kind of scientist you want to sit, and UNDERSTAND what he sees and learns. He can easily communicate with the average person, and with those at the highest level in military and intellectual leaders. I so wish I had such a passionate scientist who has as much respect for women biologists as men; a scientist whose infectious (pun intended) passion raises everyone sense of curiousity about the subject he teaches. I believe more educators with his passion would produce more passionate scientist, and people willing to take on the overwhelming accomplishment of achieving a biology degree at University.
I would strongly, strongly recommend this book to anyone with any sort of interest in biology, disease, virus, or just anyone who enjoys a terrific adventure.
The sharing of his personal details, and the mating habits of top scientists (they date among their own kind...) added a true depth to his storyline.
I found this book utterly brilliant. The clear message is everyone must be aware of the dangers of viral disease, the serious nature of these illness' which are not classified as bacteria...nor parasitic. Also, the tight budgets created for medical research are truly a danger to the future of our health and those of developing nations.
While I was eating dinner the other night, I was deep in Virus Hunter, reading the descriptive details of what Ebola does to the human body. The thought suddenly struck me...I am eating and reading about subcutaneous hemorrhaging without even a blink...
Now THAT is a good book!
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Pete the Great
Everyone who is interested in life threatening diseases has come upon the name of C.J. Peters, a leading figure in epidemiology for at least 20 years. So, when i saw the book i bought it just to get an insight of the man himself. What i found was an inspiring manifest of how ''the job gets done'', written by a deeply stuborn, sensitive and respectfull scientist. It is not only a fine book on emerging diseases, it is also a call to medics and politicians alike to enlist to one of the most important, yet underated, scientific fields. Don't miss it.
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 Mildly interesting biography of 3 decades of experience ( kapple999 )
The maps of South America & Africa were confusing - they put a lot of effort into identifying most of the Countries, but many of them didn't feature in the text, so why give the Geography lesson?The 20 photographs were of some interest, but there was only one photo of a patient with symptoms, and only one of a virus - I wish there'd been more of those and less of head & shoulders like having a meal and daughter's high-school graduation? Great disappointment - absolutely no Index! The penultimate Chapter 11 gives a prediction of Avian Flu originating in Thailand - just what we're getting news about this month (Jan 2004) - but this book was published in 1997. Given the age of the book, its probably not surprising that Chapter 12 is very out of date (as in 'wrong') regarding its description of BSE (Mad Cow Disease) & CJD. Was it necessary that we be told what the wife of the 'ghost writer' does for a living?
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Inspirational Triller!! (If thats possible) ( avaksi )
An excellent book!
This books reads like a thriller as the authors take the reader from one hot zone to another. My appreciation for the bravery and humanity of individuals who do this has increased manifold after reading this.
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Only one mistake. ( boterito )
I extremely enjoyed Dr. Peters's book. The only thing that I can argue with him about is in the chapter titled Cochabamba, when he describes Bolivia's geography he makes a mistake. I expect that he got confused, but he said the that the Kollas live in the lowlands of Beni and Santa Cruz and the Cambas in La Paz and the high altitude Altiplano. Well, the truth is that Cambas live in the lowlands of Bolivia and Kollas in the highlands. Otherwise I found the book very good and entertaining. I recommend everybody to read it, but to remember the Camba-Kolla explanation.
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Addiction
