Recommended reading for Californians who breathe or touch things.
It's called the California Hospital Bioterrorism Response Planning Guide. Doesn't the
title just give your inner epidemiologist goosebumps? Germ-porn fans like me will want
to read it all. Hypochondriacs and other paranoids may skip to pages 28 through 112
where the information gets juicy, starting with our national disease of the month:
Anthrax. The good reading includes some pathogens you may not be familiar with yet, like
brucellosis and tularemia. Reacquaint yourself with the old standards like botulism,
smallpox and bubonic plague. Then, for dessert, get a taste of the tropical rainbow of
viral hemorrhagic fevers. There's even a handy table of symptoms on pages 129 and 130
to print and tape to your refrigerator.
Take special note that this is a DRAFT document, and the comment period lasts until
November 30th. Of course there was some sort of state-wide plan in place before this,
right?
Of course there was. Sure.
