 First edition | |
| Author | Richard Preston |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 1998 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 432 pp |
| ISBN | 0-345-40997-3 |
| OCLC | 39891952 |
The Cobra Event is a 1998 thriller novel by Richard Preston describing an attempted bioterrorism attack on the United States. The perpetrator of the attack has genetically engineered a virus, called "Cobra", that fuses the incurable and highly contagious common cold with one of the world's most virulent diseases, smallpox. 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.