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Michael T. Osterholm

Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs Hardcover – March 14, 2017

by Michael T. Osterholm PhD MPH (Author), Mark Olshaker (Author)

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A leading epidemiologist shares his "powerful and necessary" stories from the front lines of our war on infectious diseases and explains how to prepare for global epidemics (Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone).

Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
In today's world, it's easier than ever to move people, animals, and materials around the planet, but the same advances that make modern infrastructure so efficient have made epidemics and even pandemics nearly inevitable. And as outbreaks of COVID-19, Ebola, MERS, and Zika have demonstrated, we are woefully underprepared to deal with the fallout. So what can -- and must -- we do in order to protect ourselves from mankind's deadliest enemy?
Drawing on the latest medical science, case studies, policy research, and hard-earned epidemiological lessons, Deadliest Enemy explores the resources and programs we need to develop if we are to keep ourselves safe from infectious disease. The authors show how we could wake up to a reality in which many antibiotics no longer cure, bioterror is a certainty, and the threat of a disastrous influenza or coronavirus pandemic looms ever larger. Only by understanding the challenges we face can we prevent the unthinkable from becoming the inevitable.

Deadliest Enemy is high scientific drama, a chronicle of medical mystery and discovery, a reality check, and a practical plan of action.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown Spark
Publication date

March 14, 2017
Dimensions

6.38 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0316343692
ISBN-13

978-0316343695
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Michael Osterholm is one of the best epidemiologists -- hunters of infectious diseases -- of our time. When Osterholm tells us that the potential for global pandemics is a life-or-death issue for every person on the planet, we need to listen. Deadliest Enemy is a powerful and necessary book that looks at the threat of emerging diseases with clarity and realism, and offers us not just fear but plans."―Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer

"This book will change the way you think. It is clear, well written, and has a narrative drive provided by a subtext worthy of Stephen King. It is also based on solid science--in fact, I wish the science weren't so solid, so I could dismiss its conclusions. If enough people--or the right people--read it, it will do what few books can do: it will save many, many lives."
―John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History and Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America

"Osterholm and Olshaker calmly show us that Mother Nature is the 'greatest bioterrorist of them all.' Marshaling solid scientific evidence, they question why we have spent billions on the 'war on terror' and virtually nothing for an inevitable calamity that will kill millions. This stunning book is a clarion call to mount a Manhattan Project 2.0 that would prepare for the coming global pandemic. Someone should listen."―Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and coauthor of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

"As a former governor responsible for the welfare and health of my state, and a former United States Senator concerned with national security, I applaud Deadliest Enemy as a chilling and important wakeup call. Not only is it a fascinating human story and medical detective drama, it lays out the great public health challenges facing humanity and the actions that need to be initiated or enhanced to avert their life or death consequences."―Bob Graham, former Governor of Florida, U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee

"Dr. Michael Osterholm is 'the Paul Revere of the Germ War.' To those of us who have peered over the horizon and seen the enemy, his work is heroic and critical. So I am extremely gratified that he and Mark Olshaker are now sharing that vital knowledge and insight in their compelling new book, Deadliest Enemy."―Michael Leavitt, former Governor of Utah, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and Secretary of Health and Human Services

About the Author

Dr. Michael Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. An internationally renowned epidemiologist, he has been at the forefront of public health preparedness, has led many outbreak investigations of international importance, and advises world leaders on the ever-growing list of microbial threats.

Mark Olshaker is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and a New York Times #1 bestselling author of five novels and ten books of nonfiction. His books with FBI profiling pioneer John Douglas have sold millions of copies and offer a unique and intriguing perspective into behavioral science and criminal investigative analysis.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown Spark; 1st edition (March 14, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316343692
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316343695
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #248,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #237 in Infectious Diseases (Books)
- #1,255 in Medical Diseases (Books)
- #2,017 in Biology (Books)

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M. Thurber

Pertinent

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020

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Most of what this book covers is pertinent to our current COV-19 crisis.

125 people found this helpful

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M. Stein

Prescient book on how unprepared we all are for pandemics

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2020

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Unlike other books on this topic, I found Dr. Osterholm’s writing engaging and eminently readable.

Osterholm provides just enough science to understand important questions, such as why people need to get flu shots every year, why are antibiotics becoming increasingly ineffective, and which pathogens are the biggest threat to humanity.

Yet he always ties the science directly to the larger socio-political and economic contexts that illustrate why these issues matter to our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

Most chilling is the chapter where he describes the influenza pandemic scenario that he and his colleagues have mapped out in the hope of persuading policy makers, governments, and the public to pay attention and start preparing. Most of the scenario reads line-by-line like it was copied from the news reports of the 2019/2020 Coronavirus (Covid) pandemic occurring as I write this.

About the only thing they didn’t predict was the panicked runs on toilet paper. However they anticipated the panicked runs on other groceries, so their accuracy was uncanny and unfortunately all too easy to understand.

Please read this book and share it with others so that we can start demanding real leadership in government and industry to implement the clear and reasoned action plans laid out on the pages within.

105 people found this helpful

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Thomas Mininger

Consolidation of all those transient News headlines

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2017

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If you’re like me, you have read page one articles through the years on terrifying Ebola, Zika, MERS, SARS, Dengue fever, West Nile… outbreaks, the persistence of AIDS and malaria, the extermination of entire chicken populations to prevent the outbreak of radical influenza strains, and the waning power of antibiotics. Invariably these headlines recede both in the media and in our minds leaving only a nagging feeling down below that we haven’t heard the last of any of these problems. They’re still lurking out there somewhere.

Osterholm and Olshaker explain exactly where these viruses and bacteria are lurking and the mechanisms whereby they will indeed pounce on us again. This comprehensive book includes the science on microbes, outbreak containment techniques (some of which you’ve read about and others you haven’t), the strain that globalization and animal production has placed on containment efforts, the politics of disease control, and the impact of outbreaks on the very fabric of civilization.

It’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of when. The authors are talking about more than local catastrophes. Even earthquake, tsunami, and hurricane damage will seem local compared to a 1918 style influenza outbreak on our modern worldwide just-in-time delivery system. This will wreak havoc on the first world as well as the third. What we consider important News headlines today will suddenly not seem so important anymore.

The time to act is now. This book explains what must be done.

144 people found this helpful

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nabw

Good read for covid19

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020

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This man knows what he is talking about Great read for what we are going through with Covid19

65 people found this helpful

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Nick

A clear magnus opus

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2017

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As a local public health professional I have been following Dr. Osterholm’s work for several years. I have always been impressed by his ability to highlight challenges in public health. I picked up his book expecting more war stories from an amazing career in public health. Deadliest Enemy provides far more than that. It’s clearly the magnus opus of this public health professional. The book goes into the infectious disease challenges facing the future of the world based on the vantage point of a veteran infectious disease hunter. Those challenges are laid out in a framework that clearly prioritizes the issues. The book ends with the clear call for action, grounded in reality, with practical solutions for the vexing challenges posed by our deadliest enemy. If you are not wowed by the stories, challenged by the realities identified, and motivated by the call for action, you might be reading a different book!

83 people found this helpful

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Long-time Amazon Customer

Osterholm is an excellent local author from where I live

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2018

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Dr. Osterholm is an excellent local author from where I live, and he has provided a critically important and up-to-date guide describing the worse killer germs and what each of us should know about them. We'd all be much safer and healthier in the future if lawmakers would deal effectively with the issues explained within. Very highly recommended.

31 people found this helpful

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Guy

A MUST read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2020

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This is a well written book without deep medical jargon & readily understood. A fascinating insight to the monumental task of tracking and preventing diseases around the world.
What is particularly interesting is that many of these are known and yet scant lip service is being paid to the eradication/prevention of them especially by the Chinese and certain Far East countries.
The epidimologists are the detectives but the real heroes are those patients that provide the clues.
This is a MUST read for those who make the decisions as to how we fund pandemic & epidemic prevention.
A real pity some of the idiots ( especially BBC Breakfast) haven't read this before they open their mouths and spread disinformation or imply that not enough is being done to help our NHS with resources at this present time.

19 people found this helpful

Philip M

Bang up-to-date, authoritative, informative - and quite frightening. Definitely a MUST read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

Dr. Osterholm has added a preface to this book on the 2020 Coronaviris CoVid-19, so it is the most up-to-date book on this subject at this time. Make sure your copy has it, don’t buy a used copy.

Osterholm is an internationally renowned epidemiologist who has been at the forefront of public health regarding infectious diseases and bioterrorism. He has led many investigations into infectious disease outbreaks around the world, and has been special advisor to the US Congress and Senate. This book, “Deadliest Enemy”, should be REQUIRED reading for all public health professionals, scientists, doctors and students and all key-workers. And it should be MANDATORY reading for government ministers!

For the rest of us, it is the most authoritative dissertation on public health policy, research and prevention of infectious diseases and bioterrorism, and an insight into the startling lack of understanding and action by our world leaders.

Osterholm’s unique experience shines through in this fascinating book. He succinctly describes how infectious disease outbreaks occur and how public health scientists, doctors and officials respond to them, the threats of potential outbreaks and the prevention of pandemics such as SARS, Ebola, Zika virus and Influenza – the king of infectious diseases.

He presents terrifying scenarios of how future pandemics could look. Confused and muddled government thinking, 30% (and more) death rate amongst front-line health workers, grotesque lack of PPE, hundreds of dead bodies in refrigerated trucks, funeral directors refusing bodies, etc. Does this sound familiar? These scenarios were presented to US government officials 5 years ago...... But his final chapter presents a Battle Plan for Survival.

Through this book Dr. Osterholm has given our world leaders a challenge. He demonstrates with critical clarity how they have failed us through a shocking lack of preparedness with CoVid-19 – and how to do better next time. Because he assures us there WILL be a next time.

3 people found this helpful

White Camel

It all came true

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book predicted what would happen and laid out what we should have done to prepare. It is just a shame those in power didn't do anything about it, they were told. Having read this book I now know much more about the world of infectious diseases. This is definitely one everybody should read. That said, it is a bit of a doomsday book, no wonder he is known as bad news Mike, because he tells people the truth, not want they want to hear. Good on him for that.

5 people found this helpful

Mr. A. J. Richmond

Very informative and concise read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

Just what I was looking for; a book by an experienced epidemiologist summarising the potential pandemic threats facing humanity. It can be seen as prescient but we’ve also been hiding our collective heads in the sand over the threat of pandemic disease.

Let’s hope COVID-19 gives governments around the world the wake-up call needed; as bigger pandemic threats certainly loom.

The Precipice is next on my reading list!

5 people found this helpful

M. R. Dougherty

The truth matters

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is one of the best, and probably the best informative thought provoking book I have ever read. If I didn't know it was published in 2017 it could have been written in real time. I only hope the world and it's leaders will now understand the warnings, given that we are amid the 2020 Pandemic of Covid19. And understand too the need for maximum investment, in order to preserve humankind.

4 people found this helpful

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