Gives an inside look at various kinds of disasters.

"Describes pandemics, including the microbes that cause disease, what causes diseases to spread, and how scientists are working to stop pandemics"--Provided by publisher.

Public health officials and organizations around the world remain on high alert because of increasing concerns about the prospect of an influenza pandemic, which many experts believe to be inevitable. Moreover, recent problems with the availability and strain-specificity of vaccine for annual flu epidemics in some countries and the rise of pandemic strains of avian flu in disparate geographic regions have alarmed experts about the world's ability to prevent or contain a human pandemic. The workshop summary, The Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Are We Ready? addresses these urgent concerns. The report describes what steps the United States and other countries have taken thus far to prepare for the next outbreak of "killer flu." It also looks at gaps in readiness, including hospitals' inability to absorb a surge of patients and many nations' incapacity to monitor and detect flu outbreaks. The report points to the need for international agreements to share flu vaccine and antiviral stockpiles to ensure that the 88 percent of nations that cannot manufacture or stockpile these products have access to them. It chronicles the toll of the H5N1 strain of avian flu currently circulating among poultry in many parts of Asia, which now accounts for the culling of millions of birds and the death of at least 50 persons. And it compares the costs of preparations with the costs of illness and death that could arise during an outbreak.

Given the tendency of books on disasters to predominantly focus on strong geophysical or descriptive perspectives and in-depth accounts of particular catastrophes, Disaster Research provides a much-needed multidisciplinary perspective of the area. This book is is structured thematically around key approaches to disaster research from a range of different, but often complementary academic disciplines. Each chapter presents distinct approaches to disaster research that is anchored in a particular discipline; ranging from the law of disasters and disaster historiography to disaster politics and anthropology of disaster. The methodological and theoretical contributions underlining a specific approach to disasters are discussed and illustrative empirical cases are examined that support and further inform the proposed approach to disaster research. The book thus provides unique insights into fourteen state-of-the-art disciplinary approaches to the understanding of disasters. The theoretical discussions as well as the diverse range of disaster cases should be of interest to both postgraduate and undergraduate students, as well as academics, researchers and policymakers.

Veteran health writer Sara Gorman compellingly argues that the backbone of medical conspiracy theories is not misinformation but lack of trust--in our hospitals and in our democracy writ large. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in the healthcare system seems to be at an all-time low. Conspiracy theories are now mainstream, and distrust of government health agencies is common among private citizens. Yet many of those same individuals still profess trust in their doctors. What, then, is driving the general mistrust in medicine, and how can the public's faith be restored? The Anatomy of Deception investigates the cause behind this seeming uptick in distrust by tracing the unexpected connection between medical mistrust and the move toward far right ideology in the United States. Drawing on personal qualitative research and interviews, health writer and expert Sara Gorman challenges traditional concepts of medical mistrust and argues that the loss of institutional trust in American health care signals a larger breakdown in democracy as a whole. In six short chapters, Gorman advances the idea of medical mistrust not as a byproduct of personal or historical abuses but as a direct result of bias, miscommunication, and lack of access that has slowly eroded trust in the public health system over time. She argues that we can build back trust in medicine through investments in health equity as a first step towards healing the schisms present in modern American society. Wide-ranging yet incisive, The Anatomy of Deception uncovers the root of medical mistrust in America and how we can regain trust in the systems and values central to our democracy.

Veteran journalist Gina Kolata's Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It presents a fascinating look at true story of the world's deadliest disease. In 1918, the Great Flu Epidemic felled the young and healthy virtually overnight. An estimated forty million people died as the epidemic raged. Children were left orphaned and families were devastated. As many American soldiers were killed by the 1918 flu as were killed in battle during World War I. And no area of the globe was safe. Eskimos living in remote outposts in the frozen tundra were sickened and killed by the flu in such numbers that entire villages were wiped out. Scientists have recently rediscovered shards of the flu virus frozen in Alaska and preserved in scraps of tissue in a government warehouse. Gina Kolata, an acclaimed reporter for The New York Times, unravels the mystery of this lethal virus with the high drama of a great adventure story. Delving into the history of the flu and previous epidemics, detailing the science and the latest understanding of this mortal disease, Kolata addresses the prospects for a great epidemic recurring, and, most important, what can be done to prevent it.

Pandemics are by their nature widespread, indiscriminate and impossible to prevent. How would your business fare if most of your workforce were incapacitated by an unexpected incident? Business Continuity and the Pandemic Threat considers the corporate impact of pandemics and shows how best to prepare for and mitigate their effects. The increase in commercial aviation and international travel means that pandemics now spread faster than ever before. Seasonal flu pandemics, zoonotic contagions such as Ebola, swine flu and avian flu (e.g. H5N1 and H7N9), and respiratory syndromes such as SARS and MERS have affected millions worldwide. Add the ever-present threat of terrorism and biological warfare, and the possibility of large proportions of your workforce being incapacitated is a lot stronger than you might think. You may well have prepared for limited business interruptions, but how would your business fare if 50% or more of your employees, including those you rely on to execute your business continuity plan, were afflicted by illness – or worse? Although nothing can be done to prevent pandemics, their impact can be significantly mitigated. Business Continuity and the Pandemic Threat explains how. About the author A Fellow of the Institute of Business Continuity Management and Member of the Business Continuity Institute, Robert A. Clark is also a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Member of the Security Institute. His career includes 15 years with IBM and 11 years with Fujitsu Services working with clients on BCM related assignments. He is now a freelance business continuity consultant at www.bcm-consultancy.com.