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The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age

The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age

Current price: $18.99
This product is not returnable.
Publication Date: October 16th, 2012
Publisher:
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN:
9781250012210
Pages:
320
Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days

Description

“One of the world’s foremost virus hunters” (Financial Times), Stanford University biologist Nathan Wolfe reveals the origins of the world’s most deadly diseases and how we can combat and stop contagions.

A “mix of biology, history, medicine, and first-hand experience [that] is potent and irresistible,”* The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age shares information Wolfe uncovered on his groundbreaking and dangerous research missions in the jungles of Africa and the rain forests of Borneo to provide an in-depth exploration of how lethal viruses evolved alongside human beings; how illnesses like HIV, swine flu, and bird flu almost wiped us out in the past; and why modern life has made our species vulnerable to the threat of a global pandemic.

In a world where each new outbreak seems worse than the one before, Wolfe points the way forward, as new technologies are brought to bear in the most remote areas of the world to neutralize these viruses and even harness their power for the good of humanity. His provocative vision of the future will change the way we think about viruses, and perhaps remove a potential threat to humanity’s survival.

“An astonishingly lucid book on an important topic. Deeply researched, yet effortlessly recounted.”—*Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies

About the Author

Nathan Wolfe is the Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Human Biology at Stanford University and Director of Global Viral Forecasting, a pandemic early warning system which monitors the spillover of novel infectious agents from animals into humans. Wolfe has been published in or profiled by Nature, Science, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Economist, Wired, Discover, Scientific American, NPR, Popular Science, Seed, and Forbes. Wolfe was the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship in 1997 and was awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) International Research Scientist Development Award in 1999 and the prestigious NIH Director's Pioneer Award in 2005. He is the author of the book The Viral Storm.

Praise for The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age

“[A] quietly terrifying book. . . . It's hard not to feel a bit feverish at times while reading.” —The Boston Globe

“One of the world's foremost virus hunters.” —Financial Times

“Wolfe makes a convincing case for the [viral pandemic] threat. . . . Sometimes the scariest thrillers are those that could play out in real life.” —Science News

“An excellent piece of scientific gothic, rich in descriptions of the threat we face from emerging viruses and how we might prevent them from becoming pandemic. . . . This enjoyable, well researched and thought-provoking book shows that [Wolfe] has a clear vision of how pandemics occur in human populations.” —Nature

“[An] engrossing and fast-paced chronicle of medical exploration and discovery.” —Publishers Weekly

“Startling in its revelations of just how vulnerable we are to infectious outbreaks.” —Book Page

“Wolfe's message is both compelling and timely… Wolfe graphically illustrates how viruses can hitchhike their way from benign passenger to poison, from lone gunman to mass murderer. Luckily he and his international microbiologist cohorts are hot onto ways not only to track viral outbreaks and head them off but also convert them into human helpers--vaccines.” —Booklist

“Highly recommend for all readers. This important book should be read by anyone wanting to stay informed on how global medical issues affect us all.” —Library Journal

“From a well-traveled virologist, an eloquent argument for why we need better ways to predict and thus prevent major disease outbreaks… Wolfe's wide experience confronting killer diseases in Africa and Asia makes for important, graphic reading and underscores his passion for prevention.” —Kirkus Reviews

“By turns terrifying and comforting, The Viral Storm is a clear, riveting account of the threat of undiscovered viruses. They lurk in the blood of primates killed for bush meat, poised to hitchhike on global travelers, reaching major cities and blood supplies before there's even time to name them. Nathan Wolfe is saving the world from near-inevitable pandemic. That he had time to write a kick-ass book on top of all that makes me want to smack him.” —Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Packing for Mars

“Nathan Wolfe is a charismatic rising star of the medical world.” —Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse

“This is an astonishingly lucid book on an important topic. Deeply researched, yet effortlessly recounted, Wolfe's mix of biology, history, medicine, and first-hand experience is potent and irresistible. This is a book that you cannot put down. In the tradition of Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague, Wolfe's work will change the way we imagine and patrol human epidemics.” —Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies

“Nathan Wolfe brilliantly explores the threat of pandemics, how they occur and why we should care. This book offers a warning--but also hope--to us all. The next pandemic is coming. How we deal with it is up to us. This is must reading for anyone who cares about their health, the health of their families and civilization as we know it.” —Jeff Skoll, first President of eBay, Founder and Chairman of Participant Media, and Founder and Chairman, Skoll Global Threats Fund