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Seven Modern Plagues

and How We Are Causing Them

  • Book
  • © 2014

Overview

Authors:
  1. Mark Jerome Walters

    1. Univ of South Florida St. Petersburg, Journalism and Media Studies, St. Petersburg, USA

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  • Timeliness of topic as new strains of flu develop and incidents of Lyme disease and West Nile Virus increase
  • Successful track record with the first edition of the book, Six Modern Plagues
  • Combination of good storytelling with cutting-edge science

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
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  2. The Dark Side of Progress: Mad Cow Disease

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 1-31

  3. A Chimp Called Amandine: HIV/AIDS

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 33-51

  4. The Travels of Antibiotic Resistance: Salmonella DT104

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 53-82

  5. Of Old Growth and Arthritis: Lyme Disease

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 83-109

  6. A Spring to Die For: Hantavirus

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 111-126

  7. A Virus from the Nile

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 127-149

  8. Birds, Pigs, and People: The Rise of Pandemic Flus

    • Mark Jerome Walters
    Pages 151-173

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 175-236
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Keywords

About this book

Every time we sneeze, there seems to be a new form of flu: bird flu, swine flu, Spanish flu, Hong Kong flu, H5N1, and most recently, H5N7. While these diseases appear to emerge from thin air, in fact, human activity is driving them. And the problem is not just flu, but a series of rapidly evolving and dangerous modern plagues.

According to veterinarian and journalist Mark Walters, we are contributing to—if not overtly causing—some of the scariest epidemics of our time. Through human stories and cutting-edge science, Walters explores the origins of seven diseases: Mad Cow Disease, HIV/AIDS, Salmonella DT104, Lyme Disease, Hantavirus, West Nile, and new strains of flu. He shows that they originate from manipulation of the environment, from emitting carbon and clear-cutting forests to feeding naturally herbivorous cows “recycled animal protein.”

Readers will both learn how today’s plagues first developed and discover patterns that could help prevent the diseases of tomorrow.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Univ of South Florida St. Petersburg, Journalism and Media Studies, St. Petersburg, USA

    Mark Jerome Walters

About the author

Trained in veterinary medicine and journalism, Mark Jerome Walters is author of the widely acclaimed books A Shadow and a Song and Six Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them. A contributing editor of Orion magazine, his work has appeared in Audubon, Reader's Digest, and numerous other publications. Walters is currently Professor of Journalism and Media studies at the University of South Florida. He has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard Medical School and an associate at Harvard's Center for Health and the Global Environment.

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