Flu hunter : unlocking the secrets of a virus / Robert G. Webster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Webster, Robert G., 1932- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Influenza--History--20th century.

Influenza.

Epidemics--History--20th century.

Epidemics.

Avian influenza.

Disasters.

Influenza--Epidemiology.

Webster, Robert G., 1932-.

Webster, Robert G.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations (some color), color maps

Place of Publication:

Dunedin, New Zealand : Otago University Press, 2018.

Summary:

"When a new influenza virus emerges that is able to be transmitted between humans, it spreads globally as a pandemic, often with high mortality. Enormous social disruption and substantial economic cost can result. The 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic was undoubtedly the most devastating influenza pandemic to date, and it has been Dr Robert Webster's life's work to figure out how and why. In so doing he has made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses and how to control them. A century on, Flu Hunter is a gripping account of the tenacious scientific detective work involved in revealing the secrets of this killer virus. Dubbed `Flu Hunter' by Smithsonian Magazine in 2006, Dr Webster began his research in the early 1960s with the insight that the natural ecology of most influenza viruses is among wild aquatic birds. Painstaking tracking and testing of thousands of birds eventually led him and the other scientists involved to establish a link between these bird virus `reservoirs' and human influenza pandemics. Some of this fascinating scientific work involved exhuming bodies of Spanish flu victims from the Arctic permafrost in a search for tissue samples containing genetic material from the virus" --Publisher.

Contents:

Foreword / by Lance Jennings

Emergence of the monster: Spanish influenza, 1918

The start of influenza research

From seabirds in Australlia to Tamiflu

The search moves to wild ducks in Canada

Delaware Bay: the right place at the right time

Proving interspecies transmission

Virologists visit China

Hong Kong hotbed: live bird markets and pig processing

Searching the world, 1975-95

The smoking gun

Bird flu: the rise and spread of H5N1

The first pandemic of the 21st century

SARS, and a second bird flu outbreak

Digging for answers on the 1918 Spanish influenza

Resurrecting the 1918 Spanish influenza

Opening Pandora's Box

Looking to the future: are we better prepared.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from title screen (viewed May 21, 2020).

Other Format:

Print version: Webster, Robert G., 1932- Flu hunber.

ISBN:

9781988531410

1988531411

9781988531403

1988531403