ENGLISH

The Chickens Fight Back: Pandemic Panics and Deadly Diseases That Jump from Animals to Humans

By David Waltner-Toews

Book information

Publisher
Greystone Books
Year
2007
ISBN
9781553652700, 1553652703
Open Library ID
OL8570903M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
10 MB (10830123 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
247\247
Library
avaxhome.ws
Time added
2010-05-31 12:15:22

Description

Emerging diseases like mad cow, SARS, and avian flu are — for the moment, at least — far more prevalent in animals than in humans. Still, the knowledge that measles, TB, and smallpox were at one time “emerging” diseases that eventually made a permanent, and quite deadly, jump to humans gives epidemiologists pause. This book examines the various groups of animal diseases, explains what attracts them to the human population — from food to sex to living conditions — and offers suggestions for keeping them at bay. It also points out that diseases must be looked at from an ecological, cultural, and economic point of view as well as from a biological standpoint. Cooking meat till its well done and slathering on insect repellent for a hike in the woods are effective preventative measures, but as the author notes, it’s more important to fundamentally rethink humankind’s place in the world.

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