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It very well could be real, but for now it's the latest heart-pounding fiction book, Sledgehammer, about a terrorist who arrives in the ER with smallpox symptoms. An ER physician suspects it but has just six days to convince hospital executives and the U.S. Government before an epidemic breaks out.

The story is brought vividly to life by Dr. Paulo J. Reyes who obtained his MD at the UCSF School of Medicine, has 25 years in medicine and internal medicine and is a First Responder for the busiest cities in California specifically in terrorists training.

In Sledgehammer, the lead character, Max Kroose, an intuitive emergency room physician, believes terrorists are to blame for the attack and fears the more lethal form of smallpox, called Sledgehammer, will kill within days. As time progresses, the terrorists planned attacks at a sports arena, mall and airport must be stopped. The question becomes can this ER doctor convince the hospital administration and the public health care system about the presence of this deadly disease and the need to vaccinate the American public. You won't be able to stop reading as you seek to find out the truth in this non-stop thriller.

How big a threat is smallpox? 'The Federal Government should allow voluntary smallpox vaccinations to protect us from smallpox bioterrorist attacks,' says Dr. Reyes. 'At the very least the Federal Government should allow voluntary vaccinations of the first responders which should include all hospital medical staff. The President and the military have been vaccinated. Why shouldn't the American public?'

Dr. Reyes also authored Health-Care Reform or Redistribution of Cost? and in his research of the health care system, he has seen its shortcomings. Realizing there is clear and present danger of a terrorist attack in the health care system has prompted him to support voluntary smallpox vaccinations.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) considers smallpox as a possible danger and includes it as one of the possible agents of a bioterrorist attack, in its website under the subheading Emergency Preparedness and Response along with anthrax, plague, and tularemia.

Reyes believes the Federal Government should consider a trial program to detect the presence of the virus ' similar to a pregnancy test ' so if the disease presents itself, it will be detected before it becomes an epidemic or pandemic.

The American public is immuno-na've to smallpox, which means it could spread very rapidly, Reyes says. And containment could be even more difficult or impossible if the virus was aerosolized, which the CDC believes may be the case, he says.

With new terrorist attacks continually happening in the United States and the fear of a global pandemic, Sledgehammer is a gripping book to get a real insight into what could possibly lie ahead unless immediate action is taken. Buy your book today at http://www.pauloreyes.com, Amazon or any major online bookstore.