Covering some of humankind's most notorious diseases, this book describes, with individual examples, the changing historical relationships between humans and their diseases, many of which they have helped to create. Contemporary illustrations show how the diseases were perceived in the past.

Tells the history of diseases and epidemics and presents some information on efforts to fight them.

Although the invention of agriculture was the most important event in the history of civilization, it was a disaster for human health. Hunter-gatherers, frequently on the move, ate a great variety of foods and seldom paused in one place long enough to allow diseases to flourish. As people settled, living cheek to jowl with their newly domesticated animals, water teemed with pathogens, waste piled up, and nutrition deteriorated as diets focused on just a few items. Diseases became rampant. The build-up of large urban populations bred new and even more deadly diseases. Restless humans -- marauders, missionaries, merchants -- carried these strains across the world to communities never exposed to them. Death on epic scales ensued. The plague, scrofula, leprosy -- all these flourished in the early modern world. War was a harbinger of death in more ways than the traditional -- whenever soldiers were drawn together in large groups the potential for an epidemic increased exponentially. Some diseases in particular are linked to war; typhus, because it killed more soldiers and sailors than they have killed each other; cholera, which is carried by contaminated water; scurvy, 'the sailors' disease;; and syphilis, which burst upon the world from a battlefield. In this ... illustrated survey of disease in history, Kenneth Kiple, editor of The Cambridge World History of Human Disease, has brought together a team of experts to show for the first time how our world is the product of disease -- and its eradication.

Over the last decades, we have seen more than three dozen new infectious diseases appear, some of which could kill millions of people with one or two unlucky gene mutations or one or two unfavourable environmental changes.

Annotation - infectious diseases- non-infectious diseases- bioterrorism.

Plagues have afflicted humankind throughout its history. From the Black Death to Ebola, author Linda Jacobs Altman traces our battles against infectious disease. Despite medical advances, the fight against these diseases is far from over.

Pandemics can come in waves—like tidal waves. They change societies. They disrupt life. They end lives. As far back as 3000 B.C.E. (the Bronze Age), plagues have stricken mankind. COVID-19 is just the latest example, but history shows that life continues. It shows that knowledge and social cooperation can save lives. Viruses are neither alive nor dead and are the closest thing we have to zombies. Their only known function is to replicate themselves, which can have devastating consequences on their hosts. Most, but not all, bacteria are good for us. Some are truly horrific, including those that caused the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plagues. And viruses and bacteria are always morphing, evolving, and changing, making them hard to treat. Plagues, Pandemics, and Viruses: From the Plague of Athens to Covid 19 is an enlightening, and sometimes frightening, recounting of the destruction wrought by disease, but it also looks at what man has done and can do to overcome even the deadliest and bleakest of contagions. More than two years in the making, author Heather E. Quinlan was deep into her research and writing when COVID hit. She quickly saw the similarities to plagues from the past. Plagues, Pandemics, and Viruses: From the Plague of Athens to Covid 19 not only covers the history, causes, medical treatments, human responses, and aftermath of the world’s biggest pandemics, but it also draws parallels to the present. It chronicles the diseases that have inflicted man throughout the millennia, including ... The differences (and similarities) between COVID-19 and other coronaviruses The bubonic plague/black plague, which wiped out 30% to 60% of Europe’s population The devastation to the indigenous population during the European colonization of the Americas The 1918 Spanish Flu, which did not come from Spain How disease “inspired” The Canterbury Tales, Wuthering Heights, the pop art of Keith Haring, and other art and literature AIDS’ “patient zero” How climate change will affect future pandemics The aftermath of various pandemics Several modern diseases making a comeback ... and much, much more. Along with investigating some of history’s most notorious pandemics and diseases, Plagues, Pandemics, and Viruses takes a look at human resilience and what we’ve learned from the past. It looks at how science, the medical community, and governments have conquered or mitigated most epidemics even before they can turn into pandemics. It reviews the science of pandemics, preventative measures, and medical interventions and it includes an exclusive interview with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as other experts in the medical community. Richly illustrated, it also has a helpful bibliography and extensive index. This invaluable resource is designed to help you understand, and protect you from, plagues, pandemics, epidemics, viruses, and disease!

Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence, Third Edition is a comprehensive A-to-Z reference offering international coverage of this timely and fascinating subject. This updated volume provides concise descriptions of more than 700.

History is full of scary diseases that spread fast and killed millions. Everyone dreaded 'the plague' and 'the pox'. So what were they really like? Could they ever return? Whether your reluctant readers want to know about famous historical events, comic heroes, deadly plagues and animals, the wonders of space or mountain exploration, there is something in this set to cater for them! With a reading age of 8-8.5, and full of features to make reading more inviting for reluctant or struggling readers, these books are perfect to ignite an interest for a new subject, whilst simultaneously developing a sense of achievement and progress in the act of reading.