The following acknowledgment for the series of five articles addressing the anti-plague system of the Soviet Union was inadvertently omitted from the article “The Soviet Anti-Plague System: An Introduction” by Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley, Alexander Melikishvili, and Raymond A. Zilinskas, which appeared in Volume 32, Number 1 of Critical Reviews in Microbiology.
Many individuals greatly contributed to the success of this project, so we take the opportunity here to identify and thank them. First, we thank Dr. Bakyt B. Atshabar, the director of the M. Aikimbayev Kazakh Scientific Center of Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases (KSCQZD) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for his invaluable assistance that included introducing us to many institute directors, laboratory heads, and scientists whom we interviewed and gaining entry to 46 anti-plague institutes and stations. We also owe an immense debt of gratitude to Dr. Seidim Aubakirov, the head of the department of scientific information at KSCQZD, whose knowledge of the history of the anti-plague system is unsurpassed and guidance throughout the course of this study was inestimable. We are also indebted to the numerous anti-plague scientists, facility managers, and local experts who provided crucial information during interviews, in commissioned studies, during informal discussions, at meetings and social gatherings, and in response to queries we posed by email and letters. In spite of our desire to recognize these individuals for their contributions to this work, they would prefer to remain anonymous. We will forever be thankful to them. One Russian scientist who we are able to identify and convey our profound appreciation to Dr. Igor Domaradskij.
This work would not have been possible without the invaluable in-country assistance provided by Dr. Alevtina Izvekova, a former research associate at the CNS branch office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, who visited some of the most isolated facilities, and reported about the work done there by anti-plague scientists, technicians, and support personnel. We would also like to recognize current and former staff members of the CNS Almaty office—Mr. Dauren Aben, Dr. Dastan Eleukenov, Mr. Tanat Kozhmanov, Ms. Marina Voronova, Ms. Aigerim Aitkhozhina—as well as summer interns Ms. Assel Roustemova and Mr. Daniyar Smagulov—who worked hard to make sure that our field research was able to proceed in an efficient manner.
We are deeply grateful to Dr. Gregory Gleason, Ms. Rosa Kavenoki, Dr. Victor Koscheyev, Dr. Michael Kosoy, and Mr. Andrew Weber, for the assistance and helpful comments that they provided to us throughout the project and, particularly, after reading the draft of this report. We would also like to thank our colleagues inside and outside the CNS for their support and assistance in many aspects of the production of this report. In particular, we are thankful to Dr. Jonathan Tucker and Mr. Kenley Butler, who carefully edited the manuscript, Mr. Sundara Vadlamudi for formatting the document, and Mr. James Toppin for translating many Russian language documents into English. In the end, however, the opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are solely those of the authors.
The study of the AP system that is reported here and in the forthcoming report was made possible through the generous funding provided by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). In particular, the authors would like to thank Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Dr. Karl Wittnebel, Dr. Asha George, Dr. Mark Smolinski, Dr. Stephanie Loranger, and Ms. Kirsten Houghton for their assistance and support of this project.