Seven Modern Plagues: and How We Are Causing Them

264 Pages·2014·1.209 MB·English

by  Prof. Mark Jerome Walters (auth.)

“Dr. Walters tells the tale of each disease like a detective story.”
—The New York Times
Seven Moder n
Plagues
and How We
Are Causing Them
Mark Jerome Walters

Seven Modern Plagues
and How We Are Causing Them

Seven Modern Plagues
and How We Are Causing Them
Mark Jerome Walters
Washington | Covelo | London
Copyright © 2014 Mark Jerome Walters
First Island Press cloth edition, September 2003
First Island Press paperback edition, August 2004
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island
Press, 2000 M Street NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036.
Island Press is a trademark of Island Press/The Center for Resource
Economics.
(CIP info to come from Production Dept.)
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Keywords: mad cow disease, HIV/AIDS, salmonella, Lyme disease,
hantavirus, West Nile virus, SARS, bird flu, swine flu, MERS
To my dearest Noelle, Will, and Anna

Contents
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
1. The Dark Side of Progress: Mad Cow Disease 1
2. A Chimp Called Amandine: HIV/AIDS 33
3. The Travels of Antibiotic Resistance: Salmonella
DT104 53
4. Of Old Growth and Arthritis: Lyme Disease 83
5. A Spring to Die For: Hantavirus 111
6. A Virus from the Nile 127
7. Birds, Pigs, and People: The Rise of Pandemic Flus 151
Epilogue: MERS-CoV and Beyond 175
Notes 181
Acknowledgments 227
Index 231
ix