Title
Flu hunter : unlocking the secrets of a virus / Robert G. Webster.
ISBN
9781988531410 (electronic book)
1988531411 (electronic book)
9781988531311
1988531314
9781988531403 (electronic book)
1988531403 (electronic book)
Published
Dunedin, New Zealand : Otago University Press, 2018.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (222 pages) : illustrations
Call Number
RA644.I6 W43 2018eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
616.203019
Summary
"When a new influenza virus emerges that is able to be transmitted between humans, it spreads globally as a pandemic, often with high mortality. Enormous social disruption and substantial economic cost can result. The 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic was undoubtedly the most devastating influenza pandemic to date, and it has been Dr Robert Webster's life's work to figure out how and why. In so doing he has made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses and how to control them. A century on, Flu Hunter is a gripping account of the tenacious scientific detective work involved in revealing the secrets of this killer virus. Dubbed `Flu Hunter' by Smithsonian Magazine in 2006, Dr Webster began his research in the early 1960s with the insight that the natural ecology of most influenza viruses is among wild aquatic birds. Painstaking tracking and testing of thousands of birds eventually led him and the other scientists involved to establish a link between these bird virus `reservoirs' and human influenza pandemics. Some of this fascinating scientific work involved exhuming bodies of Spanish flu victims from the Arctic permafrost in a search for tissue samples containing genetic material from the virus. Could a global influenza pandemic occur again? Webster's warning is clear: `... it is not only possible, it is just a matter of when.' --Publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Emergence of the monster: Spanish infuluenza, 1918
The start of influenza research
From seabirds in Australia to Tamiflu
The search moves to wild ducks in Canada
Delaware Bay: the right place at the right time
Proving interspecies transmission
Virologists visit China
Hong Kong hotbed: live bird markets and pig processing
Searching the world
The smoking gun
Bird flu: the rise and spread of H5N1
The first pandemic of the 21st century
SARS, and a second bird flu outbreak
Digging for answers on the 1918 Spanish influenza
Opening pandora's box
Looking to the future: are we better prepared?
