ISSN: 1080-6059
Setu K. Vora
*New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
Beware the threat of the spores,
Bad news parcels bide their time.
They lurk to enter the unsuspecting
And unleash dormant evil that multiplies.
The twin rings of code within are culprits
Spawning the Unholy Trinity of toxins.
Inject to bleed, swell, and destroy,
While the "protective" antigen does anything but.
Skin lesions black as the namesake coal,
Pale in comparison to the inhaled disease.
Finely milled, known simply as Ames strain
Artificial and abhorrent agents of terror.
"Alpha" bacteria,
Germs of the germ theory.
Origin of the famous postulates,
Crafty bugs made cruel by man.
Brought home the nesting-doll syndrome,
Envelopes, spores, bacilli, plasmids.
With it the fear and the frenzy
To cure what we create.
Please contact the EID Editors at eideditor@cdc.gov
The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
This page posted March
23, 2004
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A
Tel: (404) 639-3311 / Public Inquiries: (404) 639-3534 / (800) 311-3435