A very nice, and long, discussion of the zoonoses. The actual information here could be put in one chapter, but the author entertains us with accounts of his field trips, history, biographies of those he met, and assorted diversions. I disliked his occasional use of common terms for bodily fluids and excreta. Sometimes these are clearly meant to be funny, i.e. when feces are called that except in the last line of a paragraph, and overall I suppose they are meant to make the story more acceptable to a broader audience, but they are unnecessary and sometimes inaccurate; do ticks drool?. He also defines the word morbidity as the frequency of illness, which must be an epidemiological definition. That is fine, but the readers who enjoy the mention of piss, etc., might be misled since morbidity is a commonly used word with another definition. The attempt to describe the mathematics of infectious disease transmission is laudable, and he gives quite good summaries of viral taxonomy and interesting conversations with experts about the infectious disease significance of the RNA viruses. ( )

Libro che ha la “fortuna” di aver “previsto” il COVID-19. Un viaggio nel mondo dei virus più terribili (Sars, Ebola, Aviaria, Aids e diversi altri) raccontato con piglio diretto e semplice, con il tipico, efficace stile di chi trasforma una disciplina in romanzo (mi ricorda Pollan). Libro che ha il merito di renderci edotti su un argomento purtroppo mai così attuale e, soprattutto, di ricordarci che siamo animali parte di una ecologia che abbiamo sconvolto, quindi la responsabilità di quanto sta accadendo e accadrà è, caso a parte, principalmente nostra. ( )

A work of science journalism by an author who is a very good writer is a joy to read. Early in the present pandemic we heard expert after expert say we knew this would happen sooner or later, it was just a matter of time. This book is proof that they really did.

Written before COVID19, this book is a thorough exploration of the factors at play in infectious diseases passing from the animal world into human infections. SO much was known SO long before Covid and yet it took the world by surprise. Ominous to hear all these experts interviewed by the author, really frightened by the unknown Next Big One. Now that we're all interested in viruses this book is an important way to fill in the details of how this has happened and maybe what the prospects are for recovery. ( )

So well written. Great message. ( )

Well researched but not overly academic presentation of of the investigation of zoonotic diseases. I am a clinician and appreciated the references. For general readers interested in developing a deeper understanding of infectious diseases and the factors that lead to spillover, this author has presented science as as well I think it could be presented! For the general healthcare services, outside of the Infectious Disease world, this book is a fairly comprehensive overview of the progressive nature of scientific investigations, findings, and innovations of modern medicine. I also appreciated the author's humility and great appreciation for the field investigators who run in to hot zones and places others fear to tread to satisfy their quest for knowledge that will lessen the human suffering of emerging infectious disease and their pandemic potential which has increased greatly as humans stretch their presence into ancient ecosystems. Well done and highly recommended! ( )