Spillover

Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

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David Quammen: Spillover (2013, Penguin Random House)

592 pages

English language

Published 2013 by Penguin Random House.

ISBN:
978-0-09-952285-0
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This work examines the emergence and causes of new diseases all over the world, describing a process called "spillover" where illness originates in wild animals before being passed to humans and discusses the potential for the next huge pandemic. The emergence of strange new diseases is a frightening problem that seems to be getting worse. In this age of speedy travel, it threatens a worldwide pandemic. We hear news reports of Ebola, SARS, AIDS, and something called Hendra killing horses and people in Australia; but those reports miss the big truth that such phenomena are part of a single pattern. The bugs that transmit these diseases share one thing: they originate in wild animals and pass to humans by a process called spillover. As globalization spreads and as we destroy the ancient ecosystems, penetrating ever deeper into the furthest reaches of the planet, we encounter strange and dangerous infections that …

11 editions

Subjects

  • Zoonoses
  • Animals as carriers of disease
  • Epidemics