The Fatal Strain, Alan Sipress
The Fatal Strain, Alan Sipress
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The Fatal Strain
On the Trail of Avian Flu and the Coming Pandemic

Author: Alan Sipress

Narrator: George K. Wilson

Unabridged: 14 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/16/2009

Synopsis

When avian flu began spreading across Asia in the early 2000s, it reawakened fears that had lain dormant for nearly a century. During the outbreak's deadliest years, Alan Sipress chased the virus as it infiltrated remote jungle villages and teeming cities and saw its mysteries elude the world's top scientists. In The Fatal Strain, Sipress details how socioeconomic and political realities in Asia make it the perfect petri dish in which the fast-mutating strain can become easily communicable among humans. Once it does, the ease and speed of international travel and worldwide economic interdependence could make it as destructive as the flu pandemic of 1918.

In his vivid portrayal of the struggle between man and microbe, Sipress gives a front-line view of the accelerating number of near misses across Asia and the terrifying truth that the prospects for this impending health crisis may well be in the hands of cockfighters, live chicken merchants, and witch doctors rather than virologists or the World Health Organization.

Like The Hot Zone and The Great Influenza, The Fatal Strain is a fast-moving account that brings the inevitability of an epidemic into a fascinating cultural, scientific, and political narrative.

About Alan Sipress

Alan Sipress is a deputy business editor and former foreign correspondent at the Washington Post. In 2005, the Post team that he anchored was awarded the Jesse Laventhol Prize for Deadline Writing for coverage of the South Asian tsunami. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

Goodreads review by donna on April 22, 2021

I've been reading a lot of science, and especially virus-related, books lately and most of them have been chock full of great information and presented in a compelling format. The Fatal Strain: On the Trail of Avian Flu and the Coming Pandemic sadly doesn't fall into that "compelling" category. It co......more

Goodreads review by Zoe on October 17, 2014

I never though I'd read a 400 page non-fiction book about epidemiology and say I actually enjoyed it, but that did just happened people. I can't help but be amazed how Alan writes, It's like he's gently shoving masses of intelligence in to your mind. It was so easy to understand everything although......more

Goodreads review by Mhairi on May 08, 2019

A fascinating and absolutely terrifying read.......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on August 25, 2017

A good overview of how disease spreads from the farmer straight to the masses. This book makes a reasonable argument that the flu is more dangerous than diseases like Ebola. The author combines together interviews and medical research into a fascinating account of the avian flu spread. A book over e......more

Goodreads review by Mazola1 on December 06, 2009

The Fatal Strain, a book about avian flu viruses, reads like a medical thriller. While that's a good thing for those who enjoy good read, it's probably a bad thing for the future of the world's health. Alan Sipress is a reporter who spent years tracking avian flu. His book tells the tale of his trav......more

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