VIRUS HUNTERS

Explains how scientists study—and learn how to predict and counter—disease outbreaks.

In six parts, Cherrix frames six different outbreaks as compelling mysteries to be solved. “The Case of the No-Name Virus” takes readers to the U.S. Southwest of the 1990s, where observations by dendrochronologists who learned from A:shiwi people and medical data from the Korean War enable an “elite corps of epidemiologists at the CDC” to crack the case and prevent further spread of the hantavirus. Next, readers travel back to the filthy London of the mid-1800s to follow John Snow as he tracks a cholera outbreak to its source, pioneering techniques that are still used today. After giving historical background on the 1918 flu, the text follows scientists over many subsequent decades as they try to learn enough about the outbreak to prevent such a pandemic from happening again. The next section covers the globally coordinated effort (by both scientists and laypeople) to defeat the “ancient enemy” smallpox. Community involvement takes center stage in the documentation of the role activists played in raising awareness and even shaping drug trials during the HIV/AIDS outbreak of the 1980s and ’90s. The final section chronicles how the unprecedentedly fast development of the Covid-19 vaccine came about thanks to years of earlier work. The straightforward language (including impressive scientific explanations) and human-focused narrative structure make for a readable book, bolstered by sidebars and extensive backmatter for credibility.

Optimistic, informative, and inspiring for future scientists.