Infectious diseases are the most deadly killers in human history: only the Black Death, Spanish flu, and others have claimed more than a hundred million lives. This book is an insider's account by a doctor of the fight against the most dangerous diseases on the planet, as well as the panic that exacerbates the problem.
As soon as epidemiological threats arise in the world, Dr. Ali Khan - the 'Indiana Jones of medicine' - rushes to help. Hantavirus. Ebola. Bird flu. Anthrax. Atypical pneumonia. Monkeypox. Bubonic plague. West Nile fever. Rift Valley fever. SARS.
Dr. Khan searches for the pathogens of epidemics, tracks the journey to the zero patient, identifies the threat, halts its spread, and does everything to prevent the epidemic from turning into a pandemic. A thin mask was the only barrier between him and infected patients, he had to sleep under a net to escape tarantulas and malaria mosquitoes, making life and death decisions based on limited and contradictory information. As a result, he concluded that out-of-control microbes will always cause us problems.
'The Next Pandemic' is a story from a direct participant in the fight against anthrax, bird flu, and other disasters, and about what else we can do to prevent them from recurring. It is a gripping narrative about moments when we were all on the brink of death and at the same time about how we can protect ourselves from the inevitable next pandemic.