Virus Hunters
How Science Protects People When Outbreaks and Pandemics Strike
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- US$7.99
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A propulsive nonfiction look at the elite squads of scientists, doctors, and infectious disease experts who guard the boundary between public health and pandemics and how they gather data via boots on the ground “shoe-leather epidemiology” in order to save lives.
Perfect for fans of Steve Sheinkin and Deborah Heiligman!
Picture a detective. What comes to mind? A fast-talking private eye, interrogating a suspect? Or Sherlock Holmes, in his deerstalker hat, discovering clues to catch a killer?
Now imagine that the suspect isn’t a person but a microscopic menace—a deadly virus or bacteria making people sick. What kind of detective does it take to nab a biological assassin, invisible to the naked eye?
Just like detectives, epidemiologists—scientists who study how diseases emerge and spread—interview witnesses and gather clues to identify the cause of illness, locate those who are sick, and uncover the sources of outbreaks to stop them in their tracks.
From a quickly spreading cholera outbreak in 1880s London, to a mystery illness in New Mexico that stumped investigators, to the development of the vaccines to fight COVID-19 and more, join acclaimed author Amy Cherrix on a journey to explore the past, present, and future of virus hunting as the world’s greatest disease detectives race to crack the medical codes that lead to cures.
Follow the clues through medical history and discover:
The First Disease Detective: How Dr. John Snow used a simple map to track a deadly cholera outbreak in London and invent the science of epidemiology.A Century-Old Cold Case: The incredible multi-decade hunt for the 1918 flu virus, from a mass grave in the Alaskan permafrost to the high-tech labs that finally cracked its code.The Global Eradication Effort: How an international army of vaccinators, including daring doctors and local health workers, hunted down the smallpox virus to the last case and wiped it from the face of the Earth.The Race for a Vaccine: The inside story of the brilliant scientists, like Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who developed the groundbreaking mRNA vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in record time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this thrilling work, Cherrix (Eye of the Storm) breaks down the fascinating careers of scientists employed in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, "the world's most elite squads of epidemiologists" in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using cheeky, approachable text, the author compares EIS officers tracking down the source of an outbreak clue by clue to "Sherlock Holmes with a microscope in place of a magnifying glass." Covering early disease investigators like John Snow (1813–1858)—the first to understand data gathering and mapping to locate the source of a cholera outbreak in 1854—and the CDC chief epidemiologist who laid the foundation for the EIS, Cherrix details instances of scientists identifying, tracking, and working to eradicate pandemic viruses as one would an Indiana Jones adventure. Each selection culminates in this highly educational work that reads like a gripping and timely whodunit. Other events discussed include how, in the 1970s, investigators hunted down every known case of smallpox to completely eradicate a disease for the first time in history, as well as the scientists who worked to develop the Covid vaccine in 2021. Includes ample back matter. Ages 8–12.
