Shrugging off Atlas. Attendees at the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., last month were caught off guard when Ronald Atlas staged a bioterrorism threat during his presidential address. Atlas and Rick Clover, who co-direct the Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, had planted a mock smallpox patient in the auditorium lobby before Atlas's speech to see if researchers could recognize the disease and respond appropriately.
When nobody reacted, Atlas interrupted his talk and summoned the patient-actor, covered with visible pustules, to walk up on stage. "For example, nobody picked up the phone to call 911," says Atlas, who had placed observers in the crowd to monitor people's response to the patient's presence.
Harvard microbiologist Gregory Priebe says he thought the act "was a bit overblown, although it did make a point about the need for public awareness."
