Overview
- 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)
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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.
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Seven Modern Plagues
Book Subtitle: and How We Are Causing Them
Authors: Mark Jerome Walters
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-466-6
Publisher: Island Press Washington, DC
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Mark Jerome Walters 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61091-466-6Published: 20 February 2014
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIV, 240
Topics: Terrestrial Pollution, Biomedicine general, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention