Beating Back the Devil

This fascinating book explores the work of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a division of the Center for Disease Control. This group of elite health care workers trained in early disease detection and containment travel throughout the United States and the world to hot spots, with the goal of preventing deaths and widespread infection. Author Maryn McKenna, after introducing the history and structure of the EIS, launches into specific cases of disease detection, with chapters dedicated to malaria, cholera, AIDS, small pox, SARS, anthrax, TB, and others. Some chapters are devoted to outbreaks of well-known diseases, but the most intriguing are those focusing on the series of coincidences, connections, and insight that led to the discovery of new public health crises such as AIDS and SARS. McKenna begins her book with the first day of training for the EIS class of 2002 and follows many of them through their two years of service, but she does not limit her narrative to the stories of these health care workers. She reaches back in time to various outbreaks and interviews former EIS agents instrumental in detecting and controlling the spread of infection. While this book does not have the narrative drive and heart palpitating scenes of The Hot Zone, it is nonetheless a compelling portrait of disease. The chapter on SARS in particular illustrates the danger that these health care professionals face. Written for the lay person, this book never gets technical and so might disappoint those who want in-depth analysis instead of detective work. For those with a general interest in epidemiology, Beating Back the Devil offers insight into disease detection. Its content is not nearly as hyperbolic as its title, and it provides a solid, though somewhat superficial, look into public health. Its strength lies in the anecdotal nature of each chapter -- the personalities of the EIS agents, the conditions they face, and, sometimes, the politics and fear that threaten to allow an infectious agent to take hold in the population.

After reading The Coming Plague, I found myself fascinated by the people who do disease research. Beating Back The Devil by Maryn McKenna continues in that vein, and is a good read... McKenna covers the history and activities of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), which is a branch of the CDC. These people, who are considered a branch of the military, sign up for a stint which involves intensive training, personal risk, and the knowledge that they may be sent anywhere in the world with a single phone call and no notice. It's the people in this group that were on the front lines of discovering and fighting Ebola, AIDS, and hantavirus. The author generally follows a specific group of EIS personnel through their adventures (but not exclusively), so you get to know and understand the personal costs of this type of work. It's truly amazing that we have people in this country that are willing to risk everything to keep us safe from things we can not see and may not be able to protect ourselves from. Since many of the disease episodes are relatively recent, it's easy to relate to what's going on in the story, and McKenna does a good job in bringing it all to life. This is probably one of the advantages of this book over The Coming Plague. Beating helps cover that ten year gap since Plague was published. If the subject of disease detection and control is of interest to you, Beating Back The Devil is a must-read...

One of the editorial reviews said this book was riveting. There is no doubt that the book is great reading into the EIS, a part of the Center for Disease Control in the United States. This book is especially mandatory reading for those in medicine who are even contemplating working for the CDC. It's good background into the possible postings that these young people are going to see, especially in the post-9/11 world. This will impact not just them, but their families also...these people are exposed as first responders to possible bioterrorism, and will need to get vaccines that the rest of us don't absolutely need. But the possible exposure to anthrax, small pox, and other infectious disease such as the hantavirus means that these vaccines are necessary. This book just was not the riveting reading that I found in Laurie Garret's books, or the book on the 1918 influenza, or "The Hot Zone" by Preston. The book is well-written, and less melodramatic as some of these books are, and I would not be adverse to recommending this as reading for public health students. It is just not as interesting as these other books mentioned, probably because I read those books first... Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

This book was an interesting and thought provoking quick read. Readers who previously enjoyed books such as The Hot Zone should find this particularly appealing. The book alternates between descriptions of battling real epidemics and describing the people who do this battle. The book leaves the reader feeling grateful to those who do this challenging, tedious, and dangerous work...and also frightened to learn the "real deal" on how epidemics spread. I found the chapter on vaccines to be particularly interesting, and I appreciated the global view of disease, which allows the reader a glimpse into the vast differences in healthcare between the developed and less-developed parts of the world.

Many people believe that the next major terrorist attack on the united states will come from some kind of biological weapon. And the organization in the forefront of such problems is the Center for Disease Control, the CDC. Within the CDC the specialty group that goes to the field to perform the initial investigations and report back work for the Epidemic Intelligence Service. First formed during the Korean War when there were fears of biological weapons, the EIS has been around for 53 years. They are the front line. The list of diseases and incidents they have worked come straight off of the headlines: AIDS, Ebola, the anthrax crisis after 9/11, just recently there was SARS. This is the first time that a journalize has been welcomed into the relatively unknown organization. Ms. McKenna joined the first class on bioterrorism-response thought by the EIA after 9/11. With unprecedented access, she reports on this not secret, but almost unknown organization, its history, its present and its preparations for an unknown future.