Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections. (Books).MADELINE DREXLER While the public consciousness is saturated with fears of bioterrorism, Drexler tries to shift the focus toward emerging natural pathogens. She specifically points to diseases carried by animals and insects, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, foodborne pathogens, and lethal influenza as some dangerous weapons in Mother Nature's arsenal. Chapters devoted to these subjects document occurrences of and responses to a threat. Drexler reflects on the outbreaks of swine flu swine flu n. A highly contagious form of human influenza caused by a filterable virus identical or related to a virus formerly isolated from infected swine. , legionnaire's disease Legionnaire's disease (lē'jənârz`), infectious, sometimes fatal, disease characterized by high fever, dry cough, lung congestion, and subsequent pneumonia. Major organs, such as the heart, may be damaged as the disease progresses. , and AIDS that took people by surprise in the past few decades. Such history is certain to be repeated, if we are not prepared, she contends. Drexler discusses sophisticated epidemiological tools that are helping the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. identify some new infections before health emergencies occur. Finally, Drexler surveys bioterrorism in the form of smallpox smallpox, acute, highly contagious disease causing a high fever and successive stages of severe skin eruptions. The disease dates from the time of ancient Egypt or before. , anthrax anthrax (ăn`thrăks), acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis , and other deployable diseases. Joseph Henry Pr, 2002, 316 p., hardcover, $24.95. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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