Description

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.