| Description |
xii, 191 pages ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
1. The smallest passengers on Noah's ark -- 2. Heirloom infections : microbes before the advent of humans -- 3. Humans as hunters : animal origins of bioterrorism -- 4. Humans as farmers : microbes move into the home -- 5. Humans as villagers : microbes in the promised land -- 6. Humans as traders : microbes get passports -- 7. Humans as pet keepers : microbes move into the bedroom -- 8. Humans as diners : mad cows and sane chickens -- 9. Microbes from the modern food chain : lessons from SARS, influenza, and bird flu -- 10. The coming plagues : lessons from AIDS, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease -- 11. A four-footed view of history |
| Summary |
"Beginning with the domestication of farm animals nearly 10,000 years ago, Beasts of the Earth traces the ways that human-animal contact has evolved over time. Today, shared living quarters, overlapping ecosystems, and experimental surgical practices where organs or tissues are transplanted from non-humans into humans continue to open new avenues for the transmission of infectious agents. Other changes in human behavior like increased air travel, automated food processing, and threats of bioterrorism are increasing the contagion factor by transporting microbes further distances and to larger populations in virtually no time at all." "While the authors urge that a better understanding of past diseases may help us lessen the severity of some illnesses, they also warn that, given our increasingly crowded planet, it is not a question of if but when and how often animal-transmitted diseases will pose serious challenges to human health in the future."--BOOK JACKET |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references: pages 145-170 |
| Subject |
Zoonoses.
|
|
Disease Outbreaks.
|
|
Disease Transmission, Infectious.
|
| Genre/Form |
Popular Work.
|
| Author |
Yolken, Robert H.
|
| LC no. |
2004011751 |
| ISBN |
0813535719 |
|
