Animal Viruses and Humans: A Narrow Divide

Dr. Warren Andiman, professor emeritus of pediatrics (infectious disease)

(Paul Dry Books)

In “Animal Viruses and Humans: A Narrow Divide,” Dr. Warren Andiman traces the history of eight zoonotic viruses — deadly microbes that have made the leap directly from animals to human populations: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Swine influenza, Hantavirus, Monkeypox, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Rabies,  Ebola, and Henipaviruses (Nipah and Hendra). He also illustrates the labor intensive detective work that infectious disease specialists must do to uncover the source of an outbreak.

Andiman also looks to the future, envisioning the effects of zoonoses (diseases caused by zoonotic viruses) as a result of climate change, microenvironmental damage, population shifts, and globalization. He reveals the steps that we can, and must, take to stem the spread of animal viruses.