Flu Hunter: Unlocking the Secrets of a Virus
- ISBN-10
- 1988531314
- ISBN-13
- 9781988531311
- Category
- Avian influenza
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2018
- Author
- Robert G. Webster
Description
When a new influenza virus emerges that is able to be transmitted between humans, it spreads globally as a pandemic, often with high mortality. Enormous social disruption and substantial economic cost can result. The 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic was undoubtedly the most devastating influenza pandemic to date, and it has been Dr Robert Websters lifes work to figure out how and why. In so doing he has made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses and how to control them. A century on, Flu Hunter is a gripping account of the tenacious scientific detective work involved in revealing the secrets of this killer virus. Dubbed Flu Hunter by Smithsonian Magazine in 2006, Dr Webster began his research in the early 1960s with the insight that the natural ecology of most influenza viruses is among wild aquatic birds. Painstaking tracking and testing of thousands of birds eventually led him and the other scientists involved to establish a link between these bird virus reservoirs and human influenza pandemics. Some of this fascinating scientific work involved exhuming bodies of Spanish flu victims from the Arctic permafrost in a search for tissue samples containing genetic material from the virus. Could a global influenza pandemic occur again? Websters warning is clear: "... it is not only possible, it is just a matter of when."
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Elmostruo Llama a Nuestra Puerta
By Mike Davis... transiciones históricas ” en la coevolución de humanos y microbios : la Revolución Neolítica ( agrourbana ) , la formación de una comunidad euroasiática en los tiempos clásicos y el surgimiento del mundo moderno en el siglo XVII .
-
Virus Alert! the Truth about Bird Flu!
By John PiperThis book tells you the truth about bid flu - something that is difficult to find.
-
Translocal Connections of Bioinsecurity: Avian Influenza in Turkey and the Becoming of a Global Threat
By Linda MadsenHow did that come to be? How did the avian influenza threat change as the virus spread? This book offers detailed, empirical accounts of avian influenza as the virus-and the knowledge about it -spread beyond Asia, from 2005 onwards.
-
Pandemia: A Novel of the Bird Flu and the End of the World
By Johnathan RandIn Saline, Michigan, four teenagers are caught in a world gone mad.
-
Lockdown
By Peter MayLondon, the epicenter of a global pandemic, is a city in lockdown.
-
Developing Your Pandemic Influenza Business Continuity Plan
By Dr Goh Moh HengThis book provides the principles of the BCM planning methodology and shows how they can be applied to prepare an effective and detailed pandemic flu business continuity plan.
-
Avian Flu: Top 5 Strategies for Preparing Your Business for a Pandemic
Avian Flu: Top 5 Strategies for Preparing Your Business for a Pandemic
-
Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching
By Michael GregerThe author explores the underlying conditions that would create a bird flu pandemic, examines the ways in which the public can protect themselves and their families, and describes what can be done to reduce the likelihood of spreading this ...
-
Global Spread of the Avian Flu: Issues and Actions
By Marilyn R. BetheAvian influenza, or 'bird flu', is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs.
-
Everything You Need to Know about Bird Flu: & what You Can Do to Prepare for it
By Jo RevillCutting through the deluge of news stories about bird flu, this definitive guide explains how the bird flu virus works, the harm that it has already caused in Asia, why it will be so deadly if it begins to spread between humans, and what ...