Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control [Paperback]

Ed Regis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1998 | ISBN-10: 067102325X | ISBN-13: 978-0671023256

An acclaimed science writer takes readers behind the scenes at the Centers for Disease Control to tell the story of an engrossing odyssey across the viral frontier.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067102325X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671023256
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #516,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Virology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, February 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control (Paperback)

An enjoyable book providing entry level information into the topics of viral outbreaks and the CDC. There is a well developed section on the background of the United States' Centers for Disease Control, and a refreshing perspective on the reality of the battle against the "killer microbes." Not an intense review of virology, but a fun easy to understand overview of the Ebola epidemic and other associated viral outbreaks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, February 1, 2001

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control (Paperback)

This book traces the response of the CDC to an Ebola outbreak in Zaire in 1995. Like its predecessor, The Hot Zone, many stories are interwoven throughout the book to give a complete background into what happened. Despite this stylistic similarity, the message of this book is quite different from that of The Hot Zone, as becomes more and more clear by the end of the book.

One of the main story lines is a description of the development of the CDC, from its start as an anti-malaria organization to the multi-faceted behemoth that it is today. After reading the descriptions of the Level 4 labs in The Hot Zone, I never would have guessed at the primitive lab conditions found at the CDC through the 1960s and later.

Regis' core message is that of victory- -victory over this particular outbreak, victory over small pox, and the tremendous success we have had combating infectious illnesses during the twentieth century. He points out that so many infections can be prevented by simple hygiene, like washing one's hands, or by avoiding direct physical contact with infected people by using rubber gloves. Even the much feared Ebola virus doesn't spread easily when people follow standard hygiene protocols common in the developed world. Regis doesn't dismiss the importance of paying attention to communicable diseases and preventing epidemics, but he argues that there is no need to live in fear about new rain forest microbes out to get us.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, January 27, 2000

By 

charley (Portland Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control (Paperback)

Unfortunately, Ed Regis provides the readers with a very bland book on a very facinating topic. The book has no flow, is poorly organized, and is sprinkled with weak interviews from 'CDC disease cowboys.' One could obtain more useful information about 'killer viruses' from our daily news programs than from his book. Regis redeems himself however, by providing a historical perspective of the CDC, and documenting the organizations successes that have made it the international expert in infectious disease.