Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Pandemic
Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond | Sonia Shah
48 posts | 29 read | 68 to read
Scientists agree that a pathogen is likely to cause a global pandemic in the near future. But which one? And how?Over the past fifty years, more than three hundred infectious diseases have either newly emerged or reemerged, appearing in territories where theyve never been seen before. Ninety percent of epidemiologists expect that one of them will cause a deadly pandemic sometime in the next two generations. It could be Ebola, avian flu, a drug-resistant superbug, or something completely new. While we cant know which pathogen will cause the next pandemic, by unraveling the story of how pathogens have caused pandemics in the past, we can make predictions about the future. In Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond, the prizewinning journalist Sonia Shahwhose book on malaria, The Fever, was called a tour-de-force history (The New York Times) and revelatory (The New Republic)interweaves history, original reportage, and personal narrative to explore the origins of contagions, drawing parallels between cholera, one of historys most deadly and disruptive pandemic-causing pathogens, and the new diseases that stalk humankind today.To reveal how a new pandemic might develop, Sonia Shah tracks each stage of choleras dramatic journey, from its emergence in the South Asian hinterlands as a harmless microbe to its rapid dispersal across the nineteenth-century world, all the way to its latest beachhead in Haiti. Along the way she reports on the pathogens now following in choleras footsteps, from the MRSA bacterium that besieges her own family to the never-before-seen killers coming out of Chinas wet markets, the surgical wards of New Delhi, and the suburban backyards of the East Coast.By delving into the convoluted science, strange politics, and checkered history of one of the worlds deadliest diseases, Pandemic reveals what the next global contagion might look like and what we can do to prevent it.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
tullett94
Pickpick

9/10

1 stack add
review
akfreeborn
post image
Pickpick

I learned so much from this book. I find our history with diseases so interesting and realize that we will have never ending exposure and threats by contagions. In light of the coronavirus that sprang up in wet markets in China it is good to understand what the threat is and what is effective e in terms of our human reaction to stopping the spread. We are our worst enemy sometimes.

review
rsteve388
Pickpick

This book was fascinating and at times horrifying. It has a message of both being aware of our behavior with regards to pathogens and how thry spread while also being confident that in some cases modern medicine will save us.

blurb
rsteve388

So I finished Chapter 4 of Pandemic and am.about half way chapter 5.

This book is conjuring up so many ideas for me..

In chaps 2 and 3 she talks about locomotion and crowding... Well ya know in 2019 lightrail and buses are croweded and they move.. Maybe we should think of them as a place to do.some public health work.

What a better way to target a vulnerable population then to give them a flu vaccine for free along with a free ride.

blurb
rsteve388

Started reading this today. It is fascinating and intriguing. I am learning how pandamics start how they travel and the steps we take to beat them.

Crazeedi I've been wanting to read this one 5y
6 likes1 comment
blurb
Amiable
post image

Ok, so maybe reading about antibiotic-resistant infections and mutated influenza viruses isn't the best idea while riding on a grimy train that hasn't been cleaned in years with people who are coughing and sneezing all around me. 😳😬😷

BkClubCare Ooooo- now I feel itchy! Best to you reading abt germs! Yikes. 6y
51 likes1 comment
blurb
Amiable
post image

A mug of tea, a lot of fleece and a book about deadly pandemic-causing pathogens. This is how I do Friday night. 😎

blurb
Amiable
post image

Maybe it's because I work in marketing at a hospital --or maybe I'm just weird!-- but I love books about diseases and epidemics and contagions and medical history. Thanks to @aprilpohren and #litsyswapoween, I get to dive into this book about how epidemiologists track pandemics! I'm so excited. #geekalert

SandyW I've read (and enjoyed) fictionalized accounts, ie Outbreak, Contagion, The Hot Zone. I think the non z fiction version of this topic would scare the pants off me. 6y
Aimeesue My husband is a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapons défense specialist; we talk about smallpox and Fukushima, etc. at dinner all the time. I dunno why people think we're weird. It's fascinating! ??? 6y
Amiable @SandyW "The Hot Zone" is actually a nonfiction account--and yes, it is terrifying! (edited) 6y
See All 6 Comments
Amiable @Aimeesue I know, right? It is fascinating! So I don't understand why I get strange looks from people when I'm reading about Ebola or yellow fever on the train! 😀 6y
Crazeedi I really get into these types of books too. I love all medical type reading 6y
aprilpohren I thought this sounded so good!! 6y
70 likes1 stack add6 comments
blurb
JessNevertheless
post image

I always seem to pick the worst books to read while eating 😷

ephemeralwaltz Classic 😂😂 looks yummy! 6y
bullbunny Wow so fancy! Since I am a cna.. I am like immune to it. Like I could have had to deal with something nasty, wash my hands and grab something to eat XD or talk about it while eating XD 6y
JessNevertheless @bullbunny Thanks! Too hot to go out today so I just cooked instead. It's actually hard to gross me out too, but I seem to always gravitate towards books about microbes or diseases while eating haha. 6y
64 likes3 comments
blurb
JessNevertheless
post image

Between books right now and I really really want this to come in on Libby soon! C'mon one person! ⏳⏲

review
kristinshafel
post image
Pickpick

Wow. Really fascinating. Easy to follow for a non-sciencey person like me. Human beings and stupid and disgusting 🤢😷

review
Loralie
post image
Pickpick

A really great book talking about pandemics & cholera. It covered the human & scientific reactions to disease. Right up my alley!

2 likes1 stack add
review
bookwrm526
post image
Pickpick

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was a very interesting approach to the topic. Rather than discussing many different epidemics, she mostly focuses on cholera and uses it to discuss the political, social, economic, evolutionary and historical factors that lead to epidemics. Super short, and not burdensomely scientific language.

30 likes1 stack add
quote
skrishna
post image

WOW.

zsuzsanna_reads I have two dogs. The stuff is definitely NOT fertiliser. 😂 8y
rockpools Eew. 8y
unabridgedchick Eewwww!!! 8y
See All 6 Comments
skrishna Right??? This book is disgusting but fascinating. 8y
Suet624 Wow. That's fascinating. And not surprising once you hear it said. 8y
Cobscook Dog waste is a real problem in coastal waterways too. It sometimes causes shellfish beds to be closed to harvest. 8y
39 likes2 stack adds6 comments
quote
BookishMarginalia
post image

Officially scared. 😷🙄😱 #firstlines #ReadPastFear

BookNAround Well that's scary as hell! 8y
CouronneDhiver What an introduction! 😯 8y
Betty Shudder 8y
See All 6 Comments
tournevis I explained what cholera was and how it works to my students this Thursday. They got scared too. Especially when I explains that it is still endemic on Earth, today. 8y
MicheleinPhilly I couldn't read that. I'd constantly be thinking about what's going to kill me first. 😷 8y
TheBookDream Why did I read that! 8y
107 likes12 stack adds6 comments
blurb
BookishMarginalia
post image

Trying to decide if I'm ready for this one at this particular point in time 🤔 #Picador #ReadPastFear

Kappadeemom Sounds skerry 😳 8y
ScrappyMags I know what u mean.. sometimes it's gotta be the *right* time! 📚 8y
IamIamIam Omigosh, this sounds fantastic!!! Did that come out wrong? Lol 8y
See All 10 Comments
Oryx My partner is an immunologist AND it's his birthday next week. That's one pressie sorted then! 🎈 8y
CouronneDhiver I'm excited to get my hands on this... so interesting (Im a fan of the dark and twisty, according to some) Sounds similar to the movie "Contagion" 8y
mischa I read it last year - it was excellent. At one stage I was sitting in an airport lounge reading it when the person behind me coughed. I had a bit of a moment. 😝 Then the next day I realised I had bronchitis. 🤦🏼‍♀️ 8y
mjdowens I read The Hot Zone years ago. It scared me so much I actually had to get rid of the book so I never had to look at it again 8y
Handmade_Redhead This is on my tbr and has been yelling at me lately. 8y
pH7 Sounds right up my alley! Interested to hear your thoughts on it. 8y
kammartinez It is very scary, yes, but a very important and enlightening read, considering the state of our world today. It also has a pretty reassuring message about how we can go forward in a world of pandemics, so it does end on a somewhat-uplifting note :). 8y
121 likes15 stack adds10 comments
review
jessicareadsthings
post image
Pickpick

Alarming but not alarmist is how I would describe this. It's a highly readable look at both historical and current epidemics and pandemics, and also explores the current state of public health. Great for those concerned about the next pandemic, and I would also recommend for fans of fictions like 'Station Eleven'.

4 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Susan
post image

Barely into the first chapter and hooked!

2 likes1 stack add
review
Lauren.Archer
Mehso-so

This makes me want to take a shower. It was more of a history of cholera. It wasn't until the last chapter that the author discussed the future of pandemics.

Jenshootsweddings Hmmmm ... I was eyeing this one 8y
DreesReads Hm. It sounds interesting. But I have read sooo much about cholera in historical documents, I also don't think I need any more info lol. 8y
45 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
Lauren.Archer
post image

Starting the weekend with this light read...LOL

PurpleyPumpkin WOW‼️ I'd be interested to see your challenging reads. 😳😉 8y
hufflepuff_librarian Ooh!! I've been wanting to read that. Let us know how you like it! 8y
72 likes5 stack adds2 comments
review
Poindextrix
Pickpick

It had its slow parts and it took me way longer to read than I anticipated, but this book is packed with fascinating (also terrifying) information.

quote
Poindextrix
post image

So apparently I'm more likely to survive leprosy... #silverlining

quote
Poindextrix
post image

Excuse me, what???

Carol Wut! 8y
[DELETED] 3604292746 Hmmmm, 🤔 that would be interesting! 8y
11 likes2 comments
review
Legxleg
post image
Pickpick

This book was so interesting! She draws parallels between historical pandemics and recent ones, talks about ways our biology may be altered by pandemics, and brings up things I never thought would have been related to disease.

review
devon
Pickpick

I will never stop talking about the things I learned in this book. Case in point: I was walking my dog, full poop bag in hand as I searched for a trash can, just as Shah (narrating her own audiobook) drew an uncomfortably close comparison between modern dog owners & Victorian beliefs about hygiene.

quote
Legxleg
post image

Apparently people used to think you got cholera from eating too many vegetables.

blurb
Poindextrix
post image

So technically it's Saturday, but I'm posting this for @Liberty 's Fun Friday. Only about 70% sure that the boom Denbigh decided to sit on is Pandemic. This was a while ago.

Liberty ❤️❤️❤️ 8y
11 likes1 comment
quote
Poindextrix
post image

So London got a new sewer system because Goldsworthy Gurney opened the windows in parliament and the lords couldn't deal with the Thames stink. New York got new sewers because Brewers wanted better-tasting water for their beer. Continuing in the tradition of not-at-all surprising trivia.

quote
Poindextrix
post image

Well that's the least surprising tidbit of bank trivia I've ever encountered (not that I've run across a whole lot...)

13 likes1 stack add
review
Nebklvr
post image
Pickpick

They are gathering more and more deadly abilities and awaiting for a prime opportunity to attack...they are microbes and they fear nothing. Shah makes difficult material engaging and accessible. Everyone should read this!

review
catatonic1242
post image
Mehso-so

I appreciated the way this book was structured, but it just wasn't super interesting.

quote
Poindextrix
post image

Noo. Why?

MyBookLife 😖😖 8y
Carol 💩👎 8y
8 likes2 comments
blurb
Poindextrix
post image

Eating oranges while reading about pandemics will cancel out the paranoia, right?

BookishFeminist Probably not, but you're certainly brave for reading this right before bedtime! How is it so far?? 8y
MyBookLife Well, maybe oranges isn't the cure for exactly everything 🤔 8y
Poindextrix I'm enjoying it, for lack of a better word. It's been going a bit slowly for me, but I think that's just because of the circumstances in which I try to read it. 8y
10 likes4 stack adds3 comments
quote
Liza
post image

Prominent Christians openly repudiated water's cleansing effect as superficial, vain, and decadent. "A clean body and a clean dress," opined one, "means an unclean soul."

1 like1 stack add
blurb
Poindextrix
post image

Bedtime reading. Because apparently I want to give myself nightmares of dying in a horrific plague...

9 likes5 stack adds
blurb
Poindextrix
post image

Three of the selections from my readathon stack.

review
CoffeeK8
post image
Mehso-so

I actually learned a lot that I didn't know about pathogens, and much of the book was really interesting, but it was repetitive.

review
balletbookworm
post image
Mehso-so

Good ideas, and I like the idea of the chapter organization themed around how infectious diseases take advantage of human behavior but confusing and needs a tad more science/definitions in the actual text. But hey - a new book about epidemiology!

quote
balletbookworm
post image

THIS. Because no one really gave a damn about poor black people in Africa until irrational white people in the US suddenly realized infectious diseases could hitch rides on airplanes. (See also: the AIDS epidemic and gay men/IVDU)

quote
balletbookworm
post image

The vaccines aren't very effective. It would be better to spend money on waste management and access to clean water (which would also catch other water-borne disease)

quote
balletbookworm
post image

Because the major UN donor nations have basically stopped funding. Private funding always comes with strings.

MelodySchreiber I'm really enjoying your commentary! 9y
balletbookworm @m_scribe thanks! 😃 9y
2 likes2 comments
quote
balletbookworm
post image

Holla, Thomas Mann, for not being censored by the Italian government.

quote
balletbookworm
post image

So, not only did Burr off Hamilton, he blocked a public water works in NYC because he wanted to charter a bank. 😒

balletbookworm PS: this "water works" which was really used to fund his bank turned into JP Morgan Chase ? 9y
1 comment
quote
balletbookworm
post image

This is why Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven is scary as hell.

quote
balletbookworm
post image

HIV is probably not the best comparison to Ebola since the infectious routes and disease progressions are so different.

1 stack add
quote
balletbookworm
post image

Ahem, editor/copywriter - the UI and Netherlands studies need better attribution or citation. I know who they actually are, but this is part of my field of study. #pedant #hereformyfellowladyscientists

1 like1 stack add
quote
balletbookworm
post image

A spade is a spade is a spade. #hereforit