The Cobra Event

Acknowledgments

The number of people who contributed to this book seems astonishing. It is a reflection of the necessary complexity of any federal bioterror action.

I am profoundly grateful to my editor at Random House, Sharon DeLano. Her editorial judgment went into every detail, from the wording of sentences to the order and structure of scenes, and she contributed some important ideas, especially in the characters of Tom Cope and Alice Austen, and toward some of the twists at the end.

In the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drew Richardson, the head of the Hazardous Materials Response Unit (H.M.R.U.) at Quantico, and Randall S. Murch, chief scientific officer of the F.B.I. laboratory in Washington, provided generous amounts of time and help. Randy Murch invented the term `universal forensics'; Will Hopkins's description of it at the Sioc meeting follows Randy's own words to me, although the angry skepticism voiced by the man at the White House does not exist in reality. Other H.M.R.U. people at Quantico gave help, especially David Wilson and Anne Keleher, and I owe thanks to Bruce Budowle, Cyrus Grover, Keith Monson, Kenneth Nimmich, and John Podlesny for their time. At the New York field office, Joseph Valiquette showed me around and gave me a lot of his time. At the

F.B.I. laboratory in Washington, thanks to William Bodziak, F. Samuel Baechtel, Jennifer A. L. Smith, and Deborah Wang. I am also very grateful for the cooperation and assistance of the staff of the F.B.I.'s Public Affairs Office.

At the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Richard Goodman, Stephen Ostroff, and Ruth Berkelman have been supportive friends and helpful minds. I Spent many pleasant days interviewing officers of the Epidemic Intelligence Service: Frederick Angulo, Lennox Archibald, Susan Cookson, Marc Fischer, Cindy Friedman, Jo Hofmann, Daniel Jernigan, Elise Jochimsen, David Kim, Orin Levine, Arthur Marx, Paul Mead, Jonathan Mermin, John Moroney, Don Noah, Pekka Nuorti, Nancy Rosenstein, Jeremy Sobel, and Joel Williams. Others at C.D.C. generously gave their time: Dan Colley, Marty Favero, Randy Hanzlick, Brian Holloway, Robert Howard, James Hughes, Rima Khabbaz, Scott Lillebridge, William Martone, Joseph McDade, Bradley Perkins, C. J. Peters, Robert Pinner, and C.D.C. director David Satcher.

Dr Frank J. Malinoski encouraged me from the very Start of thiS project. AS an eyewitness and participant in Several sensitive visits to Russian biowarfare facilities, he provided me with key insights into the reality of biological weapons in Russia. Many thanks also to Judy Malinoski for her personal Support.

At the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland, Peter Jahrling provided extremely valuable insights, and thanks to USAMRIID commander David Franz. At the U.S. Navy Biological Defense Research Program, in Bethesda, James Burans provided a great deal of supportive friendship, not to mention unmeasurable hours of answers to my questions; and many thanks to William Nelson, David Frank, Gary Long, Beverly

Mangold, and Farrell McAfee. Former undersecretary of the Navy Richard Danzig encouraged me in a literary Sense: he helped me believe that the subject was important and that words could be found. Many thanks also to Pamela Berkowski.

At the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, many thanks to Ellen Borakove, David Schomburg, and Robert Shaler. At the Medical Center at Princeton (New Jersey), I am indebted to pathologists Elliot Krauss and Thamarai Saminathan and to diener Daniel Britt for allowing me to participate in a human autopsy. My notebook from that day is stained with blood and cerebral fluid, for they permitted me to have a hands-on experience as a reporter. And many thanks to Daniel Shapiro.

The New York subway historian and expert Joe Cunningham helped me with the final chase scenes in the subway, and we spent many happy days tramping all over the city, especially above and below ground on the Lower East Side, inspecting tunnels, pacing out distances, mapping action. Robert Lobenstein of the New York Transit Authority gave generously of his time, and I am also grateful to Roxanne Robertson for her help and supportive friendship.

For expertise with the virus, I am especially grateful to Malcolm J. Fraser of Notre Dame University. Whatever scientific follies exist here are my fault and certainly not Mac Fraser's.

At the Chelsea Garden Center in New York City I had valuable help from Betsy Smith and Nina Humphrey — it was Nina's idea to use forsythia as the plant that produced the grain of pollen in the Story. At the New York Botanical Garden, many thanks to Kevin Indoe for help with the pollen grain.

Other experts gave interviews and time: Lowell T. Anderson, Anthony Carrano, William E. Clark,

Sr, Frances de la Chapelle, Freeman Dyson, D. A. Henderson, Stephen S. Morse, Michael T. Osterholm, Marie Pizzorno, David Relman, Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, H. R. 'Shep' Shepherd of the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Foundation, Jonathan Weiner, and Frank E. Young.

Some of my most important sources did not wish to be named. I hope they will accept my profound thanks here. They know who they are.

A number of people gave help under trying circumstances as this book was being published. At Random House, special thanks to Joanne Barracca, Pamela Cannon, Andy Carpenter, Carole Lowenstein, Lesley Oelsner, Sybil Pincus, and Webb Younce. Also at Random House, Harold Evans, Ann Godoff, and Carol Schneider deserve thanks for their early enthusiastic support. At Janklow & Nesbit, special thanks to Lynn Nesbit, Cynthia Cannell, Eric Simonoff, and Tina Bennett. I am very grateful for the heroic work of the staff of North Market Street Graphics, especially Vicky Dawes, Lynn Duncan, Jim Fogel, Steve McCreary, and Cindy Szili. Nicole LaPorte, Matt Lane, and Harold Ambler gave emergency assistance. Many thanks to copy editor Bonnie Thompson, and thanks to my personal assistant Cheryl Wagaman for her deft work.

Above all, loving thanks to my wife, Michelle, ever my guide star.