Customer Reviews

The Devil's Flu: The World's Deadliest Influenza Epidemic and the Scientific Hunt for the Virus That Caused It

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

All in all an interesting read, however there is little in the way of actual history and anecdotes about this 'forgotten epidemic' - The book focuses far more on the modern day hunt for the virus than any sort of historical examination of what happened during the epidemic. An interesting read, however, people interested solely a historical examination of the virus should probably look elsewhere.

While researching FINAL EPIDEMIC, my novel of the re-emergence of the Spanish Flu of 1918,I was fortunate enough to have one of the epidemeologists I used as a source send me Pete Davies' book in its original British title (it was issued in 1999 in England under the title: "Catching Cold.")

Then as now, the depth of Davies' own research into both the history and the contemporary study of the H1N1 killer flu virus is as impressive as it is extensive. THE DEVIL'S FLU ranks with the best of medical non-fiction narrative on this unfortunately again-timely subject.

A startling fact about the original 1918 plague that devastated humanity --notable, since it occurred within the lifespan of many still alive today-- is the collective amnesia that so often surrounds that event.

Few Americans realize that it's extremely probable that they have a family member only a generation or two ago who fell prey to the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic; tales of when the cry "bring out your dead!" echoed along American streets were seldom passed from those who witnessed it to those of us who descended from the survivors. It takes a trip to virtually any cemetery to bring the death toll home to us, as marker after marker identifies the victims of the 1918 flu pandemic. Worldwide, deaths in 1918-1919 totalled at least 40 million humans, and very likely as many as 100 million-- all within a timespan measured in months.

As I write this, an avian influenza virus not unlike that which triggered the 1918 pandemic, if forcing the mass slaughter of chickens and other birds throughout Asia. It is an attempt to forestall the very real possibility that the virus (which already has infected human victims through bird-to-human transmission, and currently has a 70 percent mortality rate among human victims) could acquire genes which would allow for human-to-human transmission.

During research for FINAL EPIDEMIC, I interviewed dozens of medical researchers and epidemeologists. Without exception, each stated that their greatest fear was a resurgence of a influenza virus similar to the 1918 variant, which through incubation in humans mutated into a unprecedented killer of humanity. Based on the cyclic nature of flu pandemics, I was told, mankind was already overdue-- and, worse: woefully unprepared-- for such an emerging viral Shiva.

Influenza was, and remains, a universal threat: As A.W. Crosby wrote in "America's Forgotten Pandemic," his own classic examination of the 1918 Spanish Flu, "I know how not to get AIDS. I don't know how not to get the flu."

Davies' book on this reemerging threat deserves attention, as he reminds us that this kind of horrific killer virus is considered by the medical community a certainity to arise again.
At best, we can only prepare ourselves -- and wait.

--Earl Merkel
Author, FINAL EPIDEMIC (PenguinPutnam 2002)
and DIRTY FIRE (PenguinPutnam 2003)

After having read Ms. Kolata's version as well as several others, I do understand the story is best told objectively by Mr Davies. It is the best account and is NOT interchangeable with other books on the same subject (respectfully disagreeing with the Library Review).

Further, previous reading about other epidemics (including the fabulous book by Ms L. Garrett "The Coming Plague"), Mr Davies' account of the magnitude of this epidemic is a real eye opener. Between the two books, these gifted writers, Mr Davies and Ms Garrett, provide invaluable information and the reason the global community should be concerned - always - about our world health.

Be warned, its' not easy to put the book down once you've started - he's a gifted writer that depicts the history outstandingly well.

I used to be a virologist. Let me tell you, I was ASTONISHED at how much I hadn't been told about flu. Pete Davies is obviously no virologist, but he just wades on in there and hacks out the story and tells it to you. It doesn't have to be great; he's got lots to tell you. And he's a good writer. The portrayal of Kirsty Duncan as a pompous ass is priceless. By the way, I had NO idea that Parkinsonism was one of the sequelae of the 1918 flu. If you find that sort of info interesting, of course you'll get this book and read it. One last note: Several places in Davies' book sound to me like they were edited by some dumbass editor (the kind of editor who would remove the word dumbass from this comment); note for example the use of the phrase "flu like symptoms" on page 260, which is NOT in Davies' voice. So this book isn't perfect, but it's a really good book.

The HIV epidemic has been called the deadliest scourge ever to hit mankind, and so it may prove to be in the decades to come as the body count piles up. What is astonishing is that the world seems to have forgotten what was, before AIDS, the most lethal infection ever to visit the world, just 85 years ago -- the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. It came seemingly out of nowhere and spread all over the planet, reaching into its remotest corners, and left 30 million people dead in its wake. The spread was helped enormously by troop movements in the First World War. What made this flu so frightening was the speed with which it killed; there were reports of people leaving for work feeling fine, and dropping dead before they reached the office.

Davies' book holds our attention while he is describing the flu epidemic and its effects on the patients and survivors; where the book bogs down is in the chapters on the search for what caused it. A more detailed historical examination of the impact the flu had on the world in various countries and societies would have made it a more interesting book. Davies writes well, and his warning that the flu merits more respect than being just an annoying annual pest needs to be taken seriously. He makes a good case that a return of a devastating flu virus is not a matter of if but of when, and this time around its spread will be immeasurably aided by jet travel. As Davies points out, as lethal as the AIDS epidemic has been, and will continue to be, one can, with good luck and common sense, avoid being infected with HIV; but in the event of a return of a killer flu, how can you stop breathing?

Judy Lind

Need a little more fear in your life? Well, you're in luck! The latest source of global terror is the so-called "Asian bird flu," a.k.a., H5N1. Worldwide, only about 75 people have died of this nasty little bug to date, if you don't count millions of birds who were either infected or purposely destroyed for prophylactic reasons. Now China has announced a plan to innoculate 14 BILLION birds as a precaution.

So far, the virus is spread primarily by direct contact with bird blood or droppings. However, with a couple of small genetic variations this bug could jump to a much more threatening stage -- aerosol transmission through sneezing and coughing. If that happens, we're in for a very bumpy ride. Scientists estimate the global death toll at up to 100 million people. No kidding.

So what does the bird flu have to do with the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more than 40 million people? That's the scientific mystery behind Pete Davie's fast-reading book, "The Devil's Flu," originally published in the U.K. in the late 1990s under the title "Catching Cold."

Ever since the 1918 pandemic, virologists have been trying to find human tissue with samples of that terrible virus so they could analyze it and compare it to new bugs like the bird flu. That's the focus of this story. After prepping the reader with some scientific background, Davis takes us on a wild ride through places like Hong Kong, Alaska and the arctic islands of Norway as competing scientists search for traces of the old bug. Along the way, we learn where viruses come from, how they mutate, how they spread and what's likely to happen next.

"The Devil's Flu" isn't a scholarly work, but it sure is great fun to read. I finished it in about three hours. More recent authors have explored this topic with greater depth. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this book for people who want just enough detail to understand the big picture -- in a very entertaining way. And if you must sneeze, please cover your nose.

This is a book for technical readers as well as a nice history of flu epidemics, especially the one in 1918 that killed 30-40 million and the Hong Kong 1997 avian flu which had the potential to claim 100 million lives. As long as flu's have been around, there haven't been a lot of books written on it and publishers even turned away authors seeking to document the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 - 19 simply 'because it was over'.

I found the story about the dig in the frozen tundra looking for the Spanish flu to be exciting.
In my novel, Reign of the Rat, I explored the same operation Mr. Davies wrote about but in a fictionalized version.
The next deadly flu pandemic is waiting and the more I research the Avian, the more I suspect it may be here soon.

I was expecting a good novel, almost a history book, but found a superficial and inconsistent cut and paste book, mixing scientific pseudofacts, heroes discovered and some newspaper-style news.

Davies presents an entertaining (and sometimes chilling) summary of facts about the 1918 epidemic. More useful and interesting, however, are his summaries of more recent, even less well-known, events such as the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak and the 1976 swine flu debacle.

It is interesting to note that his depiction of the men investigating the 1918 virus is universally glowing and complimentary, while his depiction of the women involved is either flat or entirely vilifying. His depiction of Kirsty Duncan seems particularly vitriolic, and one has to wonder if he was taking some cold shoulder just a touch too personally.