Flu
Subtitle: the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it
By: Gina Kolata.
Edition: 1st Touchstone ed.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 338
ISBN-13: 9780743203982
Subjects: Influenza -- History -- 20th century
Other titles: Story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it.; Flu (with a new epilogue about avian flu) :
Description: The fascinating, true story of the world's deadliest disease. In 1918, the Great Flu Epidemic felled the young and healthy virtually overnight. An estimated forty million people died as the epidemic raged. Children were left orphaned and families were devastated. As many American soldiers were killed by the 1918 flu as were killed in battle during World War I. And no area of the globe was safe. Eskimos living in remote outposts in the frozen tundra were sickened and killed by the flu in such numbers that entire villages were wiped out. Scientists have recently rediscovered shards of the flu virus frozen in Alaska and preserved in scraps of tissue in a government warehouse. The author unravels the mystery of this lethal virus with the high drama of a great adventure story. Delving into the history of the flu and previous epidemics, detailing the science and the latest understanding of this mortal disease, she addresses the prospects for a great epidemic recurring, and, most important, what can be done to prevent it.
Notes: "With a new epilogue about avian flu!--Cover.

"Text copyright 1999; Epilogue copyright 2005"--T.p. verso.

"A Touchstone book."

Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-320) and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue; title: 1. The plague year; title: 2. A history of disease and death; title: 3. From sailors to swine; title: 4. A Swedish adventurer; title: 5. Swine flu; title: 6. A litigation nightmare; title: 7. John Dalton's eyeballs; title: 8. An incident in Hong Kong; title: 9. From Alaska to Norway; title: 10. Mysteries and hypotheses; title: Epilogue; title: Acknowledgments; title: Notes; title: Index.