''The Cobra Event'' is a 1998 thriller

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Richard Preston Richard Preston (born August 5, 1954) is a writer for ''The New Yorker'' and bestselling author who has written books about infectious disease, bioterrorism, redwoods and other subjects, as well as fiction. Biography Preston was born in Cambr ...

describing an attempted

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents include bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or their toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in mu ...

attack on the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The perpetrator of the attack has genetically engineered a

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

, called "Cobra", that fuses the incurable and highly contagious

common cold The common cold, or the cold, is a virus, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the Respiratory epithelium, respiratory mucosa of the human nose, nose, throat, Paranasal sinuses, sinuses, and larynx. ...

with one of the world's most virulent diseases,

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. The disease that results from the virus, brainpox, has symptoms that mimic those of Lesch–Nyhan syndrome and the common cold. The book is divided between descriptions of the virus and the government's attempt to stop the imminent threat posed by it.

Plot summary

The book is divided into six sections. The first section, called "Trial", starts with a teenaged girl named Kate Moran who dies violently one day in school. The next section, titled "1969", describes tests done in the 1960s by the U.S. government involving weaponized viruses. The third section, "Diagnosis", describes the

autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...

of Kate Moran and introduces the key characters of Dr. Alice Austen, Mark Littleberry, and Will Hopkins. The last three sections—"Decision", "Reachdeep", and "The Operation"—describe these three characters' journeys to discover the source of the lethal Cobra virus.

"Cobra" and its effects

The virus described in the novel is a fictional chimera that attacks the human brain. The infective agent, code-named "Cobra" by the protagonists, is a recombinant virus made from modified variants of the nuclear polyhedrosis virus (which normally infects moths and butterflies),

rhinovirus The rhinovirus (from the "nose", , romanized: "of the nose", and the ) is a Positive-sense single stranded RNA virus, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus ''Enterovirus'' in the family ''Picornaviridae''. Rhinoviru ...

, and

. The infection initially presents common cold-like symptoms and a characteristic

blister A blister is a small pocket of body fluid (lymph, serum, plasma, blood, or pus) within the upper layers of the skin, usually caused by forceful rubbing (friction), burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled ...

ing process in the nose and mouth, before invading the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

. Although not as contagious as the

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

virus, it spreads rapidly through the same vectors as the common cold, mainly via airborne particulate matter coming in contact with the

mucous membranes A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It is ...

of the respiratory system. Although tussis is the primary source of these particles, the inclusion of nuclear polyhedrosis virus allows Cobra to form crystals, which can be easily processed into a fine powder. This powder is used as a delivery mechanism in the novel's terrorist attacks. The

optic nerve In neuroanatomy, the optic nerve, also known as the second cranial nerve, cranial nerve II, or simply CN II, is a paired cranial nerve that transmits visual system, visual information from the retina to the brain. In humans, the optic nerve i ...

s of the eye, accessed through the eyelid, and

olfactory nerve The olfactory nerve, also known as the first cranial nerve, cranial nerve I, or simply CN I, is a cranial nerve that contains sensory nerve fibers relating to the sense of smell. The afferent nerve fibers of the olfactory receptor neurons t ...

s of the nose provide a direct pathway for the neurotropic Cobra virus to spread to the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain, spinal cord and retina. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity o ...

, where the virus takes root. Once present in brain matter, the virus begins to replicate exponentially. Infected brain cells experience growth of viral crystals in their nuclei, eventually leading to

lysis Lysis ( ; from Greek 'loosening') is the breaking down of the membrane of a cell, often by viral, enzymic, or osmotic (that is, "lytic" ) mechanisms that compromise its integrity. A fluid containing the contents of lysed cells is called a ...

of the cell. The

brain stem The brainstem (or brain stem) is the posterior stalk-like part of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord. In the human brain the brainstem is composed of the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla oblongata. The midbrain is co ...

, which controls the basic functions of life, is heavily affected by this growth. The Cobra virus also knocks out the gene for the

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, whose absence causes Lesch–Nyhan syndrome. As a result, patients experience both autocannibalistic urges and increased aggression toward others. These neurological symptoms develop within a matter of hours, eventually resulting in death due to the severe damage to the brain stem. Cobra is so aggressive in its growth that autopsies reveal a brain almost liquefied by cell lysis. Cobra is shown to have a

case fatality rate In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people who have been diagnosed with a certain disease and end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate, the CFR does ...

of almost 98%, with only one survivor out of 43 people infected.

Impact of the book

President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

was reportedly sufficiently impressed by the scenarios described in the book that he asked aides and officials for closer study and suggested more funding for research into bioterrorism threats. However, some variation exists in the assorted accounts of this episode in his administration, about his degree of concern, who was asked to help, the depth of inquiry, the formal status of his orders, and the magnitude of expense involved. Furedi, F. (2007). ''Invitation to Terror. Expanding the Empire of the Unknown''. London: Continuum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobra Event, The Biological warfare 1998 American novels American thriller novels Novels by Richard Preston Fictional viruses Fictional microorganisms Fiction about bioterrorism Novels about mass murder Fiction about smallpox