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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
"When a pathogen leaps from some nonhuman animal into a person, and succeeds there in establishing itself as an infectious presence, sometimes causing illness or death, the result is a zoonosis." The event of such leap is a spillover.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic is a well-researched book. David Quammen is not an armchair researcher. He visits scientists and doctors allover the world, from Africa, Australia to Southeast Asia, and takes part in the actual field work. The writing is rich and dotted with humor.
The diseases covered in the book include Hendra (horse measles), Ebola, SARS, Malaria, Nipah Virus, HIV (mostly HIV-1), Influenza, and many more. Scientific concepts such as "reservoir" and "amplifier" are explained well. He also explains how RNA virus and retrovirus work and why they behave the way they do. A lot of investigation journalism too. The 100 pages chapter about HIV reads like a very engaging detective story.
A few fun facts (yes I think science is fun, even it is about infectious diseases):
1. "Deer tick" is misleading, as deer is a reservoir but not the most popular reservoir of Lyme Disease. The white-footed mouse is, followed by chipmunks and shrews.
2. A Malaria bug was used to treat a type of late stage of syphilis but also gave the usually mild bug a chance to become deadly.
3. Bats are the most popular reservoir
4. It is almost impossible to eradicate a zoonotic disease because they have a natural animal reservoir. Smallpox is not zoonosis (meaning only in humans) therefore it has been eradicated.
What strikes me most is that the NBO (the Next Big One, i.e. the next deadly pandemic disease) is inevitable. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Ecology plays a crucial part in the happening of spillover events. Human population explosion, the destroy of animal habitat and the proximity between wild animals and human all make such events inevitable. "Human-caused ecological pressures and disruptions are bringing animal pathogens ever more into contact with human populations, while human technology and behavior are spreading those pathogens ever more widely and quickly." However, the inevitability does not mean we are helpless. It all depends how we react.
Is the current Covid-19 pandemic the Next Big One? Probably not, because its mortality rate is not as high as the last big one, 1918-1919 influenza, but history will tell.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic is a well-researched book. David Quammen is not an armchair researcher. He visits scientists and doctors allover the world, from Africa, Australia to Southeast Asia, and takes part in the actual field work. The writing is rich and dotted with humor.
The diseases covered in the book include Hendra (horse measles), Ebola, SARS, Malaria, Nipah Virus, HIV (mostly HIV-1), Influenza, and many more. Scientific concepts such as "reservoir" and "amplifier" are explained well. He also explains how RNA virus and retrovirus work and why they behave the way they do. A lot of investigation journalism too. The 100 pages chapter about HIV reads like a very engaging detective story.
A few fun facts (yes I think science is fun, even it is about infectious diseases):
1. "Deer tick" is misleading, as deer is a reservoir but not the most popular reservoir of Lyme Disease. The white-footed mouse is, followed by chipmunks and shrews.
2. A Malaria bug was used to treat a type of late stage of syphilis but also gave the usually mild bug a chance to become deadly.
3. Bats are the most popular reservoir
4. It is almost impossible to eradicate a zoonotic disease because they have a natural animal reservoir. Smallpox is not zoonosis (meaning only in humans) therefore it has been eradicated.
What strikes me most is that the NBO (the Next Big One, i.e. the next deadly pandemic disease) is inevitable. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Ecology plays a crucial part in the happening of spillover events. Human population explosion, the destroy of animal habitat and the proximity between wild animals and human all make such events inevitable. "Human-caused ecological pressures and disruptions are bringing animal pathogens ever more into contact with human populations, while human technology and behavior are spreading those pathogens ever more widely and quickly." However, the inevitability does not mean we are helpless. It all depends how we react.
Is the current Covid-19 pandemic the Next Big One? Probably not, because its mortality rate is not as high as the last big one, 1918-1919 influenza, but history will tell.
As someone who is very interested in emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), I found the book extremely engrossing and entirely factual (from my limited knowledge). My only qualm would be that Quammen's writing often comes off as a bit pedantic and some of his storytelling, to me, seemed a bit too dramatic for the topic of discussion. Otherwise, a phenomenal read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in diseases and the ecological dynamics underlying them.
I loved reading this. I learned a million things and do really think, that this is my favourite pop science book. The only question for me is why it took me 9 months to read although reading it was always a fantasticly engaging for my curiousity as well as my desire for good storytelling. Reading it on my computer might have been the problem.
Great book.
Great book.
Well-researched and engagingly written. What more can I ask for? Maybe fewer nightmares of oncoming pandemic diseases... Highly recommended to anyone who thinks the topic sounds interesting.
Took me a while to finish this one, but that's entirely my fault. Readable yet authoritative and INCREDIBLY fascinating.
David Quammen is a superb storyteller. His chapter "The Chimp and the River," which is the story of how AIDS emerged, is so fascinating, and so well told, that I couldn't put the book down. I want to carry the book around and tell everyone I see, "Read this chapter! In fact, read the entire book!"
Each chapter covers a different outbreak (Ebola, SARS, AIDS etc). Quammen pulls out the facts from the myths and legends that have grown around these diseases and travels to each location to meet with the researchers and doctors who have dealt with the disease first hand. An absolutely fascinating and important book.
Each chapter covers a different outbreak (Ebola, SARS, AIDS etc). Quammen pulls out the facts from the myths and legends that have grown around these diseases and travels to each location to meet with the researchers and doctors who have dealt with the disease first hand. An absolutely fascinating and important book.
Based on the number of new reviews on Goodreads, I’m not the only one who has dragged this out from the TBR pile in light of recent events. It is an excellent summation of everything you wanted to know about zoonotic diseases, but were afraid to ask. The new understanding of viruses that I have gained is far from comforting.
I found this book to be fascinating! Quammen leads you on an adventure around the world as he follows scientists to find the origins of deadly zoonotic viruses such as Ebola, Marburg, AIDS, and even coronaviruses and at the same time explains how viruses survive and thrive. His writing is easy to follow and just enough sciency for the average person to understand. I didn’t read this until 2020 during the pandemic and was shocked it was published in 2012. This is the one book I tell everyone to read!
Unbelievable read. Despite being 12 years old, this book is as relevant as ever. While I work in the medical field and probably had more baseline knowledge of the concepts he discusses, he breaks down very complicated scientific principles into language anyone can understand. This book is gripping, terrifying, and most of all, extraordinarily well-written. Would recommend wholeheartedly.
informative
reflective
slow-paced