Whether focusing on sympathetic victims like the infant in London who started the cholera epidemic or over-the-top characters such as Typhoid Mary, the cases are certain to jumpstart interest in other books related to disease and disaster.
Peters’ writing style incorporates elements of mystery and horror to bring these compelling stories to life. The epidemics chronicled in this text include The Great Plague (1665), The Soho Outbreak (1854), Yellow Fever in Cuba (1900), Typhoid in New York City (1906), Spanish Influenza (1918), Ebola in Zaire, (1976), and AIDS in the U.S. More people have died of disease than wars or natural disasters. In each of the seven deadly diseases examined, scientists were able to build on the work of others to extend our knowledge in the hopes of preventing future catastrophes. Focusing on the courageous pioneers of epidemiology, each case follows the quest of a scientist to identify “patient zero”, the first person to contract and spread the disease. “The book reads like a thriller, with gripping accounts of how these diseases affected people.PATIENT ZERO by Marilee Peters tells a series of engaging true stories of the world’s scariest epidemics. Patient Zero reminds us that millions of people owe their lives to the work of these pioneer epidemiologists, work that continues to this day. The result is spine-chilling as Peters follows the scientists who solved the intricate mystery of the killer epidemics. Patient Zero brilliantly brings to life the main characters and events to tell the gripping tale of how each of seven diseases spread. It led to the death of 10,000 inhabitants exposed to the dirty water. John Snow’s mapping of an epidemic found that patient zero was a six-month-old baby, whose cholera-laden diarrhea had contaminated the water of a local pump. But they kept hunting for answers, putting the pieces of the epidemic puzzle together.Īs they looked for clues to the origin of a disease, scientists searched for the unknown “patient zero”-the first person to have contracted it. Often they were ignored, laughed at, or even fired from their jobs. The courageous, trail-blazing defenders against these diseases faced a terrifying personal gamble. Throughout history, more people have died in disease epidemics than in wars or other disasters. Engrossing true stories of the pioneers of epidemiology who risked their lives to find the source of deadly diseases.
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