The Lassa Ward: One Man's Fight Against One of the World's Deadliest Diseases [Kindle Edition]

Ross Donaldson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Donaldson is a medical cowboy, chasing viruses in Africa, but also a UCLA medical prof and ER doc. This book is a wild and extraordinary memoir of his 2003 summer in Sierra Leone as a naïve medical student studying Lassa fever (a close cousin of the Ebola virus). Donaldson gives passionate and powerful reportage on a struggling clinic treating villagers and refugees from neighboring war-torn Liberia suffering from the devastating and often fatal illness. What inspired the adventure was the work of Dr. Aniru Conteh (who died in 2004), the hero at the heart of the story, whose Lassa ward served thousands. despite the lack of equipment, medicine and staff. For a week, Donaldson, untried and unsure, was left to treat the desperately ill patients alone—a test that turned a frightened student into a caring, if not altogether confident, young doctor. Despite a slow start, this astounding story of the seemingly insurmountable barriers to public health in a Third World country revs up into an irresistible tale of discovery, courage and kindness. (May)
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Review

"Effortlessly transmits both the facts and the fascination of a bad infectious outbreak...[a] portrait of contagion at the highest possible magnification."--The New York Times

“A touching and compelling account. The Lassa Ward brings to life the challenges and rewards that dedicated development workers face daily around the world.”--Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel laureate in economics

"Required reading for all medical students and anyone looking for a little armchair medical adventure."--Library Journal

“Donaldson started out as an earnest, well-meaning American medical student, off on a great African adventure. He came of age in the middle of a raging epidemic, civil war, and hideous poverty, discovering a humanity few Americans ever experience. Donaldson has bared his soul, offering a lesson that should be required reading for every doctor-in-training.”--Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health

"A potent mix of travel memoir, coming-of-age narrative and medical mystery. Donaldson's experiences treating a frighteningly infectious and often deadly hemorrhagic fever, the strength of his West African patients, and his own grave illness bring him to a contemplation of mortality, poverty, civil war, and medicine as it is practiced in the first and third worlds. " - Jo Perry, BookBrowse.com 

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 399 KB
• Print Length: 296 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312377002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2010)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002HRY186
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,351 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #38 in Books > History > Africa > Sierra Leone

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read!!!, June 26, 2009

By 

Stephanie L. Barber "Steph4687" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lassa Ward: One Man's Fight Against One of the World's Deadliest Diseases (Hardcover)

This book was absolutely wonderful. I have read many medical narratives and many books on infectious disease and global health. I read this book in a day and could not put it down. It is exciting and interesting. I highly recommend anyone interested in tropical medicine/infectious disease/global health care to read this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent and well written; a compelling story, June 9, 2009

By 

pink dog "mb" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lassa Ward: One Man's Fight Against One of the World's Deadliest Diseases (Hardcover)

From page one, The Lassa Ward was a compelling story that I couldn't put down. It was so captivating! A well written and thought provoking memoir, I couldn't stop thinking about the various people that Dr. Donaldson met, long after I finished reading. I wish there was a sequel to find out what happened with everyone. I highly recommend this book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and Thought-provoking, July 13, 2009

By 

Historical Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lassa Ward: One Man's Fight Against One of the World's Deadliest Diseases (Hardcover)

This book is thoughtful and thought provoking. It lingers with you long after you finish it. I learned a lot of valuable information about war, Africa and disease.