Emerging-Infectious-Diseases Books

James L. Dickerson gives a very detailed comprehensive history of Yellow Fever. The first four chapters are dedicated to specific cities or states in the United States that have been devastated by a yellow fever epidemic. Then it turns to the research behind what is causing all these illnesses. It is intriguing how they even began to figure out where yellow fever came from and how it is transmitted. Then, Mr. Dickerson gives more up to date information such as biological warfare, how global warming could cause future outbreaks and how difficult it is to get rid of yellow fever.
* This book is good for those looking for a lot of precise detailed information about yellow fever.
* Personally, there was so much history that it was hard to comprehend and focus on the main story.
* The best parts of this book were the personal stories that gave true heart and soul to how this affected people, like the diary of the girl in Memphis, Belle Wade.
* I did learn that Memphis was named after an Egyptian town on the Nile and even though I now know that bit of history, it was all that "added" information that made the book hard for me to read.

If you are a student of U.S. history then you have likely read about the impact that yellow fever has had on our nation. Most notably, a major outbreak of the disease occured in the summer of 1793 in the city of Philadelphia, then our nation's capitol. When all was said and done more than 4000 of the Philadelphia's 28,000 residents lost their lives. Most of Congress and even President George Washington were forced to abandon the city. Commerce practically ceased and the wheels of our fledging government ground to a halt. Those citizens who were fortunate enough to survive were indelibly scarred for life. In "Yellow Fever" author James Dickerson not only chronicles the events of that devasting summer in Philadelphia but also takes a look at how yellow fever outbreaks impacted a number of other major American cities during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This is compelling and eye-opening reading to be sure!
I first became interested in the subject of yellow fever when I read the John R. Pierce and James V. Writer book "Yellow Jack" about a year ago. I wanted to know more. Dickerson's "Yellow Fever" offers the reader a fairly comprehensive history of why the United States government placed such a high priority on conquering yellow fever. Dickerson does not mince words when he describes the symptoms of this dreaded disease and offers an actual unedited autopsy report that describes in gruesome detail how yellow fever can ravage the body. "Yellow Fever" also introduces the reader to those dogged and courageous individuals who would be ultimately responsible for practically eradicating this disease including a Cuban doctor named Juan Carlos Finlay, the U.S. Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg and of course the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board, a four man panel led by Major Walter Reed.
What worries James Dickerson and legions of doctors and scientists all over the world is the prospect that global warming will lead to a resurgance of tropical diseases such as yellow fever. This is a prospect we in North America are ill prepared for. But is this a threat we should take seriously? It seems to me that we should. Over the past decade there have been increasing incidents of mosquito induced tropical diseases such as West Nile virus, encephalitis and even malaria reported in all but a handful of states throughout the country. "Yellow Fever" presents still more convincing evidence that the U.S government should finally take the issue of global warming seriously and pursue laws and policies that will reduce our emission of greenhouse gases. It constantly amazes me how many of my friends and relatives completely dismiss the idea of global warming. How much more evidence do they need? An interesting and well written book. Highly recommended.

YELLOW FEVER: A DEADLY DISEASE POISED TO KILL AGAIN poses a wake-up call in providing not just a history of a bygone threat, but discussion of how it's a prime candidate for use as a biological weapon - and prime for re-emergence in the face of global warming. These two threats alone make YELLOW FEVER more than just a survey of the past, providing it an immediacy and importance which justifies the author's focus. A vivid narrative traces its emergence and impact from the late 18th to the early 20th century, describing attempts to contain and eliminate the disease and adding important chapters which consider how it can be used by terrorists today - and how it might come back on its own. A 'must' for any serious public or school library health collection.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I do not know where Amazon gets the descriptions they use, but this book has nothing on small pox, or on Soviet bio-weapons, or on anthrax, or rogue diseases or anything by Shnayerson and Plotkin. This book is 290 pages but because the Adrenaline Series has apparently changed format, it is smaller and the type coverage on the page is half an inch thinner than usual, so if published in the old format, this would be a thinner book. There are 11 selections in the book, and the strongest include an interesting story about treating Ebola in Africa, a very intersting piece on diagnosing a case of flesh-eating bacteria, good writing on salmonella and food poisoning (scary stuff - I may never eat again), and a story of tracking a case of Lassa Fever from Chicago back to Africa. Fortune Magazine weighs in with a pretty interesting story of what AIDS is doing to the economy of South Africa. But there are some weak entries that bog it down - a dull piece on the bubonic plague and a very academic study of how malaria is transmitted by mosquito. The excerpt on Mad Cow is about how it was first discovered over 40 years ago in New Guinea - slow and not too interesting. The article about AIDS is a very philosophical and sentimental journal written by a dying man - and could have been written as is no matter what he was dying of. And the short fiction by Poe is just wasted space. So bottom line - about half the book is really gripping, and half had me wanting to skip ahead. I think it would have been a stronger collection if a few of the advertised selections had been used. If diseases interest you this may be a good sampler, but if that isn't your passion you probably could pass on this book.