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by Elizabeth A. Fenn, 370 pp, with illus, $25, ISBN 0-8090-7820-1, New York, NY, Hill & Wang, 2001.

JAMA. 2002;287:2719-2720.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The appearance of Pox Americana, with its felicitous play on the word "pax," is surely a most interesting literary coincidence, given the current heightened interest in a disease considered to have been eradicated for at least a generation. The author, a professor of history at George Washington University, details in eight chapters the dominant events in the first years of the new American nation, with a focus on the effects, always serious, often devastating, of several smallpox outbreaks. The important aspects of the disease of smallpox itself are presented, with attention to mechanisms of spread, personal and societal effects, and efforts at control. For this purpose, the author has consulted outstanding authorities, and the discussion well serves both laypersons and clinicians.

At the time of the war for independence, smallpox was a fearsome disease indeed, striking old and young, rich and poor alike. Inoculation and quarantine were the only means . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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From the Editor: More about Smallpox!
Winkelstein
Am J Epidemiol 2002;156:586-586.
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