A field guide to germs

About this book

"From the ravages of the Ebola virus in Zaire to outbreaks of pneumonic plague in India and drug-resistant TB in New York City, contagious diseases are fighting back against once-unconquerable modern medicine. Public concern about infectious disease is on the rise as newspapers trumpet the arrivals of new germs and the reemergence of old ones." "In A Field Guide to Germs, science writer Wayne Biddle brings readers face-to-face with nearly one hundred of the best-known (in terms of prevalence, power, historical importance, or even literary interest) of the myriad pathogens that live in and around us. Along with physical descriptions of the organisms and the afflictions they cause, the author provides folklore, philosophy, history, and illustrations. From cholera to chlamydia, TB to HIV, rabies to Congo-Crimean encephalitis, anthrax to Zika fever, and back to good old rhinitis (the common cold), A Field Guide to Germs is both a handy reference work for understanding today's headlines and a look at the astonishing impact of microorganisms on social and political history."--Jacket.