| Description |
271 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Philadelphia: the great plague of 1793 -- -- New Orleans: gateway to death -- -- Memphis almost disappears -- -- Mississippi devastated by yellow jack -- -- Spanish-American war: finding the real enemy -- -- Weapons of mass destruction -- -- Global warming casts ominous shadow -- -- The disease that won't go away |
| Summary |
"Yellow fever is one of the most insidious yet historically fascinating diseases ever to terrorize the American public. The first identifiable epidemic in the United States struck Philadelphia in 1793, killing four thousand residents. More than twenty thousand people, including President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were forced to flee the city and seek refuge in the countryside." |
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"In the intervening years, tens of thousands of Americans were killed each summer by the disease. The reign of terror lasted until 1905, the date of the last epidemic. Today yellow fever is unlikely to be found on anyone's Top 10 list of potential health threats facing Americans, but author James L. Dickerson argues in this narrative, filled with poignant and graphic scenes culled from the past, that just such a threat exists as a "natural" result of global climate changes and as a possible weapon of choice for international terrorists, who could easily jump-start the next epidemic by releasing only a small group of infected mosquitoes at a baseball game." |
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"Currently the disease is hovering in South America and Africa, infecting about two hundred thousand individuals each year and resulting in more than thirty thousand deaths. Scientists predict that as global warming progresses, the disease will return to the United States like a giant cloud bringing death and destruction - and the devastation could occur even sooner is terrorists decide to capitalize on the symbolism of the disease by using it as a weapon. The imminent return of yellow fever to the United States is not an issue to ignore; it is not a matter of "if" but "when." Are you confident that you will be safe from the yellow fever virus when you get your first mosquito bite of the summer?"--BOOK JACKET |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Yellow fever -- History.
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| LC no. |
2005038055 |
| ISBN |
1591023998 hardcover alkaline paper |
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