Killer germs : microbes and diseases that threaten humanity (Rev. and updated [ed.])

Discover the unseen assassins that plague humanity.

Until recently, most of us went about our daily lives with a false sense of public health security.

Epidemics were a thing of the past, the AIDS crisis had diminished, and an annual vaccination kept the flu at bay.

Then, in late 2001, all of those illusions of public health safety were suddenly shattered.

A litany of terrifying images and events became all to familiar, from federal agents surreally swathed in biohazard suits to the daily evacuation of major government buildings for anthrax decontamination.

The lethal power of microscopic organisms - no longer confined to the lab - permeated our collective psyches, forcing us to confront the serious threat posed by killer germs.This updated edition of Barry and David Zimmerman's classic on the subject offers a riveting retrospective of the havoc-wreaking microbes of the past as well as an engrossing exploration of emerging threats, including a new chapter on bioterrorism. In these pages, you'll discover: what makes smallpox the most potentially devastating of all bioweapons, and how prepared we are to fight it; why tuberculosis - already responsible for 2 billion deaths - is on the rise in the United States, Canada, and Europe; how antibiotic overload might one day turn a simple paper cut or skinned knee into a source of fatal infection; and why virologists fear that an easily transmissible, highly virulent superflu - strong enough to rival the strain that killed millions in 1918 - is imminent.

From the bygone bubonic plague to the modern nightmare of Ebola, "Killer Germs" offers a fascinating examination of the horrors humanity has faced and the actions required to provide hope for the future.