The demon in the freezer

The devastating smallpox virus was purged from the planet in 1979. In the interest of research, two stores were kept: one at the Centers for disease control in Atlanta and one at a Russian virology institute. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. Iraq and North Korea are almost certainly hiding illegal stocks of the deadly virus. Richard Preston relates in detail the story of the eradiction of smallpox, and introduces us to some of the most sophisticated minds in America, past and present.