The only thing scarier than bio warfare is the antidote
It was spring 1979 in Sverdlovsk, Russia, a large industrial city straddling the border of Europe and Asia in what was then the Soviet Union. Without warning, 96 residents became ill, with symptoms similar to a severe flu: fever and chills, sore throat and headaches, with some nausea and vomiting. Just the usual one-week flu — except in this case, of the many people who got sick, at least 64-died within six weeks.
In the months following this alarming turn, Soviet medical, veterinary and legal journals all attributed the illnesses to an outbreak of anthrax originating in livestock raised south of the city. Government officials concurred, announcing that anyone who had contracted anthrax either ate contaminated meat or handled animals infected with the disease (the bacteria cannot be spread from person to person).
