Something About the Hot Zone

Bad Knight.

Someone sent us this Washington Times opinion piece on the book by retired U.S. Army Col. Mark G. Kortepeter, a leading biodefense expert, Inside the Hot Zone (2020). The book is described as an insider’s account of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Dr. Kortepeter says biologically-based infectious diseases are catastrophically lethal with outbreaks such as the Ebola virus, anthrax, or Zika virus — outbreaks caused by Mother Nature — even shaping the course of history and bringing down empires.

Times reporter Joshua Sinai cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) listing of the six highest threats as “Category A” agents, which he calls the “Chessmen of Doom.” These include the Pawn (botulism), the Rook (tularemia), the Knight (Ebola), the Bishop (plague), the King (smallpox) and the Queen (anthrax.)

This isn’t the first time “chessmen of doom” has been used for something other than the 1989 Bellairs title. The blog notes there was a 1952 Wonder Woman comic with this name, too.

Stuff that in your derby, Murgatroyd Freel.