America is one killer organism away from a living nightmare that threatens all we hold dear....A deadly cloud of powdered anthrax spores settles unnoticed over a crowded football stadium.... A school cafeteria lunch is infected with a drug-resistant strain of E. coli.... Thousands in a bustling shopping mall inhale a lethal mist of smallpox, turning each individual into a highly infectious agent of suffering and death....Dr. Michael Osterholm knows all too well the horrifying scenarios he describes. In this eye-opening account, the nations leading expert on bioterrorism sounds a wake-up call to the terrifying threat of biological attack and Americas startling lack of preparedness. He demonstrates the havoc these silent killers can wreak, exposes the startling ease with which they can be deployed, and asks probing questions about Americas ability to respond to such attacks. Are most doctors and emergency rooms able to diagnose correctly and treat anthrax, smallpox, and other potential tools in the bioterrorists arsenal? Is the government developing the appropriate vaccines and treatments? The answers are here in riveting detail what America has and hasnt done to prevent the coming bioterrorist catastrophe. Impeccably researched, grippingly told, Living Terrors presents the unsettling truth about the magnitude of the threat. And more important, it presents the ultimate insiders prescription for change: what we must do as a nation to secure our freedom, our future, our lives.From the Trade Paperback edition.