"In April of 1979 the city of Sverdlovsk in Russia's Ural Mountains was struck by a frightening anthrax epidemic. Official documents reported 64 human deaths resulting from the ingestion of tainted meat sold on the black market, but rumor told a different story and lack of documentation left unresolved questions. In her investigation of the incident, Jeanne Guillemin unravels the mystery of what really happened during that tragic event in Sverdlovsk.".

"As the team's medical anthropologist, she investigated the where-abouts of the victims and tracked the disease's progression. Because most hospital records had been lost or confiscated by the KGB, Guillemin began the arduous task of locating those who perished by gathering names at cemetery grave sites. Through persistent effort she found many of the victims' families and gently elicited their often emotional accounts of the outbreak."--BOOK JACKET.