COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened and How to Stop the Next One
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- Create Date：2021-12-07 06:51:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Debora MacKenzie
- ISBN：0349128375
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Summary
In a gripping， accessible narrative， a veteran science journalist and infectious disease expert lays out the shocking story of how the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic happened and how to make sure this never happens again
Over the last 20 years of epidemics， we learned every lesson needed to stop this coronavirus outbreak in its tracks。 We heeded none of them。 The result is a pandemic on a scale never before seen in our lifetimes。 In this captivating， authoritative， and eye-opening book， science journalist and researcher Debora MacKenzie lays out the full story of how and why it happened: the previous viruses that should have prepared us， the shocking public health failures that paved the way， the failure to contain the outbreak， and most importantly， what we must do to prevent future pandemics。
Debora MacKenzie has been reporting on emerging diseases for more than three decades， and she draws on that experience to explain how COVID-19 went from a manageable outbreak to a global pandemic。 Offering a compelling history of the most significant recent outbreaks， including SARS， MERS， H1N1， Zika， and Ebola， she gives a crash course in Epidemiology 101--how viruses spread and how pandemics end--and outlines the lessons we failed to learn from each past crisis。 In vivid detail， she takes us through the arrival and spread of COVID-19， making clear the steps that governments knew they could have taken to prevent or at least prepare for this。 Looking forward， MacKenzie makes a bold， optimistic argument: this pandemic might finally galvanize the world to take viruses seriously。 Fighting this pandemic and preventing the next one will take political action of all kinds， globally， from governments， the scientific community， and individuals--but it is possible。
No one has yet brought together our knowledge of COVID-19 in a comprehensive， informative， and accessible way。 But that story can already be told， and Debora MacKenzie's urgent telling is required reading for these times and beyond。 It is too early to say where the COVID-19 pandemic will go， but it is past time to talk about what went wrong and how we can do better。
Over the last 20 years of epidemics， we learned every lesson needed to stop this coronavirus outbreak in its tracks。 We heeded none of them。 The result is a pandemic on a scale never before seen in our lifetimes。 In this captivating， authoritative， and eye-opening book， science journalist and researcher Debora MacKenzie lays out the full story of how and why it happened: the previous viruses that should have prepared us， the shocking public health failures that paved the way， the failure to contain the outbreak， and most importantly， what we must do to prevent future pandemics。
Debora MacKenzie has been reporting on emerging diseases for more than three decades， and she draws on that experience to explain how COVID-19 went from a manageable outbreak to a global pandemic。 Offering a compelling history of the most significant recent outbreaks， including SARS， MERS， H1N1， Zika， and Ebola， she gives a crash course in Epidemiology 101--how viruses spread and how pandemics end--and outlines the lessons we failed to learn from each past crisis。 In vivid detail， she takes us through the arrival and spread of COVID-19， making clear the steps that governments knew they could have taken to prevent or at least prepare for this。 Looking forward， MacKenzie makes a bold， optimistic argument: this pandemic might finally galvanize the world to take viruses seriously。 Fighting this pandemic and preventing the next one will take political action of all kinds， globally， from governments， the scientific community， and individuals--but it is possible。
No one has yet brought together our knowledge of COVID-19 in a comprehensive， informative， and accessible way。 But that story can already be told， and Debora MacKenzie's urgent telling is required reading for these times and beyond。 It is too early to say where the COVID-19 pandemic will go， but it is past time to talk about what went wrong and how we can do better。
Reviews
Kpeu3e
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I expected more， to be honest。 The info is pretty much old and well known already。 I feel like the author is just repeating the same thing over and over again “we were slow， we were not prepared” - that’s pretty much what’s the whole book about， but written in 300 pages， instead of one。 The only thing I found really interesting was explaining about the bats - how do they get infected and fight the virus。 Also， some of the stuff is not exactly correct for example when she says something like “the I expected more， to be honest。 The info is pretty much old and well known already。 I feel like the author is just repeating the same thing over and over again “we were slow， we were not prepared” - that’s pretty much what’s the whole book about， but written in 300 pages， instead of one。 The only thing I found really interesting was explaining about the bats - how do they get infected and fight the virus。 Also， some of the stuff is not exactly correct for example when she says something like “the more we learn about covid， the more we realise it’s not so serious。” This sentence was in comparison to the plague， still the more we learn the more we realise exactly the opposite - that covid is very serious condition。 Overall you can skip reading this book， I am not sure many people would learn something new。 Like I said， the whole point was the governments act slowly， neglected the danger and there， I just told you the book with a couple of words。 。。。more
Quynh Nguyen
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Một cuốn sách hay， nhưng là một bản dịch dở。
Rawan
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Written by a journalist before July 2020 there is no updated information and many unrelated subjects to covid also boring。
Scott
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Pretty interesting， later chapters turned a bit repetitive in trying to make the point。
DanTheMan
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Very solid medical book that gives a thorough analysis into the origin and history of the pandemic as well as government response and potential future pandemics。
أخضر أخضر
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عندما تكتب باحترافية في ظل فقر شديد في المعلومات، وفي جو من الدعاوى والتناقضات والتخبطات؛ فأنت حقًا متميز。 هذه ديبورا ماكينزي تحدثنا عن تاريخ الفيروسات التاجية وتعاملنا معها ومع كل الجائحات التي أصابت البشرية ووضعتها في منطقة الخطر؛ من إنفلونزا الطيور والخنازير وسارس وغيرهم。 وهي تحدثنا عن كوفيد-19 في وقت مبكر جدًا من ظهوره، فلم تكن تملك ديبورا رفاهية الانتظار للحديث عن الفيروس التاجي المستجد إذ تحتم خطورة الوضع عليها كصحفية متخصصة في الأمراض المعدية أن تعرفنا بما وراء الفيروس المستجد وليس بماهي عندما تكتب باحترافية في ظل فقر شديد في المعلومات، وفي جو من الدعاوى والتناقضات والتخبطات؛ فأنت حقًا متميز。 هذه ديبورا ماكينزي تحدثنا عن تاريخ الفيروسات التاجية وتعاملنا معها ومع كل الجائحات التي أصابت البشرية ووضعتها في منطقة الخطر؛ من إنفلونزا الطيور والخنازير وسارس وغيرهم。 وهي تحدثنا عن كوفيد-19 في وقت مبكر جدًا من ظهوره، فلم تكن تملك ديبورا رفاهية الانتظار للحديث عن الفيروس التاجي المستجد إذ تحتم خطورة الوضع عليها كصحفية متخصصة في الأمراض المعدية أن تعرفنا بما وراء الفيروس المستجد وليس بماهيته من حيث هو فيروس بيولوجي。 الحقيقة موضوعات كتابها ممتعة للغاية، ردت على من ينكرون حقيقة الفيروس علميًا وأجابت عن قضية كون الخفافيش مهددة لحياتنا البشرية أم لا، ورصدت الأخطاء التي كان بإمكاننا تجنبها مع كوفيد-19 كي لا يتفشى ذلك التفشي المرعب، والكثير من الأمور المهمة جدًا。 أول ما بدأت في قراءة الكتاب تصورت أن الكتاب سيكون علميًا محضًا، أو أكاديميًا، لكنه أقرب إلى الكتابة الصحفية السلسة لكنه لا يبتعد كثيرًا عن الحقل العلمي؛ لذلك أزعم أنه مناسب للقراءة للجميع حتى لمن لا يفضلون القراءة في العلوم الطبيعية والطب ونحوهما。 。。。more
Summer
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This isn't my usual reading genre， but my husband and I listened to this via audiobook during a road trip and it was quite good。 A digestible presentation and analysis of facts comparing COVID-19 to other pandemics， discussing both what went well and what could have been handled more effectively。 This isn't my usual reading genre， but my husband and I listened to this via audiobook during a road trip and it was quite good。 A digestible presentation and analysis of facts comparing COVID-19 to other pandemics， discussing both what went well and what could have been handled more effectively。 。。。more
Heidi C
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A lot of great background information/summaries concerning viruses that has caused pandemic and to raise awareness on a lot of issues including climate change， lab management， political issues， social interconnectedness， but the scariest as of today with Delta variant， I hope people can wake up to see that for those who are vaccinated， they are putting themselves in a much inferior position， literallyp。 194"Leaky" vaccines， though， induce immune reactions in the host that keep the virus at low l A lot of great background information/summaries concerning viruses that has caused pandemic and to raise awareness on a lot of issues including climate change， lab management， political issues， social interconnectedness， but the scariest as of today with Delta variant， I hope people can wake up to see that for those who are vaccinated， they are putting themselves in a much inferior position， literallyp。 194"Leaky" vaccines， though， induce immune reactions in the host that keep the virus at low levels， so an infected host doesn't die- but the virus doesn't completely die out either。 If that happens， those viruses can become extra virulent， because they don't have the problem killing off their host if they do。。。 Now， if that virus reaches hosts who aren't vaccinated， it will be more lethal than usual。 That is exactly what happens with chickens vaccinated for Marek's。Our covid-19 vaccine is not perfect and especially now that China has a second outbreak， which once again， are hiding the facts as they would not want to expose their so-called effective vaccine are indeed not able to protect against Delta variant and in fact， could get even more lethal。 If you want to speed read this book， just read Chapter 7。 。。。more
Book Worrier
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This is a fascinating and very readable account of the lead up to the pandemic and the lessons that need to be learned。 I am thoroughly enjoying it。 I started while waiting for the mandatory time after my vaccination in the center and did not hear my name being called when it was time to leave。 Hard to put down and highly recommended。
Jenn Webster
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What Do I think of this book？This book is a reminder that in order to prevent future pandemics， we must work together， with governments and us。
Rachel Rose
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This was a great book。 I found it very informative and did not burnout from reading it like I have with other books and articles about covid。 I liked that she talked about the differences of outbreaks， endemics， epidemics and pandemics。 She talks about different global responses to all sorts of viruses and analyses good and poor responses from different countries。 She talks about how and why vaccines are created and why we are encouraged to take them every year。 I liked that she said it wasn't b This was a great book。 I found it very informative and did not burnout from reading it like I have with other books and articles about covid。 I liked that she talked about the differences of outbreaks， endemics， epidemics and pandemics。 She talks about different global responses to all sorts of viruses and analyses good and poor responses from different countries。 She talks about how and why vaccines are created and why we are encouraged to take them every year。 I liked that she said it wasn't businessmen who were valuable and helped us survive during this pandemic but our doctors， teachers， support workers， grocery clerks， plumbers， electricians etc。 That if we want to learn valuable lessons going forward to help us prepare for the next pandemic （because there will be） we need to offer better protections for these people。 She did kind of criticize capitalism， which I loved and she argued for universal healthcare， which again I loved。 She did say we need to change our relationship with animals although she doesn't go into too much detail about this。 And I think the solutions she offers going forward are interesting and tangible， but conversely she's apprehensive how much people/countries can actually pull together to prevent another catastrophe。 I learned a lot and I think this author provides many good insights。 If you can only stand to read one book about covid， I recommend this one。 Also， I'm keeping my mask for next time。 。。。more
Miciaus knygos | books & travel
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Šiai knygai nereikia net žodžių。。。
Matt Gosney
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Probably will read again， but got the overall jist of it。 If China was more forthcoming and active in sharing information we could have gotten on top of Covid-19 earlier。 We may not be in the situation we are in now。 If other countries had learnt the lessons of SARS and correct disaster preparedness we would not have been caught short in regards to vaccines and PPE。 Covid-19 comes from bats but we shouldn't go out and kill all bats because they are important to our eco-systems。 Viruses like Covi Probably will read again， but got the overall jist of it。 If China was more forthcoming and active in sharing information we could have gotten on top of Covid-19 earlier。 We may not be in the situation we are in now。 If other countries had learnt the lessons of SARS and correct disaster preparedness we would not have been caught short in regards to vaccines and PPE。 Covid-19 comes from bats but we shouldn't go out and kill all bats because they are important to our eco-systems。 Viruses like Covid-19 and others fester in bats and thrive in bat colonies because bat immune systems don't fight rather co-exist within the bat。 Human immune systems fight the virus causing inflammation and creating conditions within the body that actually favour the covid-19 virus， for example， due to the energy bats have to expunge to fly their body temperature rests at a higher rate and our immune response is to run a fever - making it more desirable for a Covid-19 virus。MacKenzie wants an international authoritative organisation to monitor countries， something external to the WHO。 SARS， MERS and SADS should have been enough warning to improve pandemic preparedness。 Ultimately， we are slow to act， rely too much on profit markets to dominate where research and preparedness goes。 Bat faeces is medicine in China for vitamin A， let's probably stop that。 If I say anymore， it probably defeats the purpose of you reading the book。I liked it， maybe skip chapter 1 as it sort of whinges about how we should have been better at being ready and yes it's true， all good in hindsight。 Read it， it's important， it's easy to read and her style is engaging。 。。。more
Jurij Fedorov
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"1 Could We Have Stopped This Whole Thing at the Start？"5，5/10Firstly， the intro is a waste of time。 Wow it's bad。 The author is just saying a ton of nothing by making claims like "we need to be better prepared"， "we need to work together"， "we need to learn and do better"。 Unless you are a 5th grader this stuff is so obvious that you won't learn anything from it。The first chapter itself is an overview of how the virus started and how China fumbled the ball， by forcing their doctors to keep quie "1 Could We Have Stopped This Whole Thing at the Start？"5，5/10Firstly， the intro is a waste of time。 Wow it's bad。 The author is just saying a ton of nothing by making claims like "we need to be better prepared"， "we need to work together"， "we need to learn and do better"。 Unless you are a 5th grader this stuff is so obvious that you won't learn anything from it。The first chapter itself is an overview of how the virus started and how China fumbled the ball， by forcing their doctors to keep quiet about it。 This is stuff you know already if you have lived through the Covid-19 news。 I was hoping for a deeper analysis and professional info。 This book is actually more simplified than NYT or Wall Street Journal articles about the topic so there is not much new stuff here。 I guess if you read about the pandemic in 2030 such a simple intro is fine enough。 But then you may as well watch a PBS documentary on it。"2 What Are These Emerging Diseases， and Why Are They Emerging？"6/10Very basic stuff and a bit unfocused。 Not fully sure what the main points are。 It's a bit about everything just somewhat focused on where viruses are from。"3 SARS， MERS—You Can’t Say We Weren’t Warned"7/10China lies about SARS and lies about the amount of cases until they invite in WHO to help out， but they still don't let them travel freely。 WHO cannot tell the world about the pandemic because they could only do it if the host country allowed it。This chapter is actually good。 Finally the book is going into a proper story and focused on a virus and not info dumps。 The SARS epidemic is pretty much a perfect illustration of what went wrong during Covid-19 too and how China lies about their viruses until they can't hide it anymore。I relistened to it because my Windows restarted to update and I forgot where I was in the book。 It's a fine enough chapter。 I do dislike the lack of focus。 It should have been about the SARS epidemic only。 That part was great。 The other stuff was less engaging。"4 Don’t Blame the Bats"6，5/10Basic intro to bats and covid and why we shouldn't just kill all bats。 They spread around seeds。"5 Wasn’t the Pandemic Supposed to Be Flu？"6，5/10Info about flues overall。 Lots of flues introduced。 Basically there are so many of some viruses that you can't just make one vaccine to fight enough of them。"6 So What Do We Do About Disease？"6，5/10Uffff… she is citing the notorious Covid-19 Lancet letter to prove that the virus has a natural origin。 I've never read a book that aged this fast as the letter is now seen as subjective propaganda。 Some of the researchers who signed the letter now say that it very well may have been a lab leak and I think a book discussing both theories would be great for sure。 Matt Ridley is currently writing a book about it and it will expand on stuff that these pre-vaccine books missed。Then there is the issue of having written a book before the vaccine was a thing。 There is a whole ton of stuff that goes into Covid-19 vaccine development， distribution and effect。 Covid-19 will be remembered for how the vaccine stopped it and opened up countries again。 We didn't have to just accept it or keep being locked down。 This alone could have been a book by itself and yet it's not even mentioned in this book unlike the lab leak hypothesis that at least gets mentioned in a sentence。Overall the chapter just feels like a repetition of her prior points about vaccines and research。 That's the main issue， it feels like repeated points about overall vaccine research as she is trying to find things to write。 Instead it could have explored actual Covid-19 topics had it been written a year later。"7 Things Fall Apart"6，5/10A bit about how viruses have different levels of harm and some just kill off the animals and therefore go extinct。 Some are so deadly that the individual animals in a species that can handle them reproduce and survive while others die。"8 The Pandemic That Never Should Have Happened—And How to Stop the Next One"6/10Her main point is that China did a lot of good even though they screw up each pandemic and just let it spread for a while lying to the world。 She says that private companies can't solve such issues as you need states to develop vaccines and make a common international organization that will solve all virus problems by sharing info。 She is constantly talking about how states and world-wide projects will solve everything and that capitalism is mediocre at all of this。 Yet she doesn't notice that she herself has written about how WHO and China， USA and other countries constantly screw up。 So it's not at all clear if her plan is that good or even realistic using her very own stories。 Sure you can create more huge state agencies and organisations like WHO but it's just one idea among many。 She doesn't even get into what private companies can do by themselves outside all of this global thinking。 What if the states offered them money to develop vaccines that would never produce a profit？ They obviously don't want to spend $10bn on a vaccine that only a million people need。 But if a state wanted to spend their money on it they could。 This doesn't require any type of huge state agency developing a vaccine。 That would be wicked ineffective。I think many of her points are good， but just very narrow-minded and she doesn't seem to understand or respect the research happening in private companies or what single countries can do in respect to borders， masks and distancing。 Her perfect society seems to be a borderless world where info is shared widely in huge UN type groups that basically know everything and have the power to do anything on a planet scale。 China is even mentioned as a positive example of what can happen if you act top-down。I think the main issue is that she wrote this book so early in the pandemic that many of these gray zones are not clearly illustrated。 We did see companies develop vaccines。 And the whole thing about "daddy WHO please save us" actually went away since the book came out as we discovered that WHO didn't really have much to offer single countries and much of their advice against masks and closed borders actually made the virus spread further。 Basically， WHO did a lot of good things。 Those things were clear when she wrote the book。 But the stuff that we know now makes it clear that WHO was overestimated by most of us back then。She is also using global warming to illustrate why we need her huge global organization to control the world/the human species。 But it's not clear how such an agency would be controlled if it has enormous power。" My review of the book itself"Basically the book's main point is that we need a huge multinational agency with huge power controlling countries and stopping pandemica。 Furthermore， states should invest many more billions into healthcare and develop vaccines themselves without a focus on profit。 She also consistently claims that private companies won't do much about viruses or pandemics。This book was written very early into Covid-19。 It was published in July 2020 so most of the book was written at the start of the main outbreak。 Therefore she didn't know about all the mistakes WHO did and their botched China investigation where Wuhan lab data was hidden from them。 She didn't know about Western journalists who tried to visit bat caves to take photos， but were stopped by Chinese units telling them that the area was dangerous because of wild elephants。She also didn't know about the upcoming vaccines developed by private companies。 She didn’t know about the many public offices and agencies that had to fire people or admit fault。 Some politicians in UK broke the lockdown。 The leading pandemic expert for the UK government even visited his married lover during lockdown。 Leading to him being forced to quit。 All this stuff explains a lot about how we mess up。 It’s clearly a book that was written at least 1 year too early。Basically it's a vague overview of Covid-19。 Most chapters and ideas are about how viruses and pandemics work。 So if you are looking for a book on specifically Covid-19 you likely will want to skip this one for something newer。 50% of what needed to be said about Covid-19 is not said as the book is just too old。The book is also very repetitive in how many times it makes exactly the same points。 The point about WHO not being able to tell the world about pandemics before 2005， unless the host countries allowed it to， was made maybe 8 times in the book。 The point about “a huge multinational public company is needed” was made probably more than 30-40 times。 The point about private companies not developing enough vaccines was made 20 or such times。 Everything is repeated because what else can you do if you don't have enough Covid-19 info yet？One thing that illustrates her political leaning and her ideology is her Trump statements。 Trump is mentioned by name 6 times。 All 6 are attacks on him。 That’s fine by itself， but then you don’t have attacks on any other people or politicians。 And notice that she is even pointing out negative stuff about Trump unrelated to any health issue like the Iran nuclear deal。 The only other things she is as critical about are private companies overall and to some degree China。“… National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense。 All three， wrote Kirchhoff， were underfunded or shut down under the Trump administration。 When the Covid-19 pandemic hit， the pandemic plan written by the Obama administration was largely ignored。““Then in April 2020， Donald Trump threatened to withdraw US funding from the WHO， which is 15 percent of the agency’s regular funds。““Members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must declare any uranium or plutonium that can be used for nuclear weapons， prove they haven’t diverted any for weapons， and submit that to verification inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency， or IAEA。 The IAEA caught Iran cheating twice and imposed an inspections regime that was keeping it from enriching too much uranium—until Donald Trump torpedoed the agreement in 2018。“Trump is mentioned twice in this example:“Cambridge psychologist Leor Zmigrod has discovered that people who live in US states and cities with a higher prevalence of diseases you catch from humans—but not diseases you get from animals， like Lyme disease—are more likely to have authoritarian personalities and to have voted for Donald Trump。 States with more pathogens also tended to have more laws that restrict minorities， such as LGBTQ people。““As a presidential candidate， Donald Trump blamed Latin American immigrants for “tremendous infectious disease。” All the claims were groundless。“It’s just an issue that a book about Covid-19 has several chapters largely dedicated to her personal concept of a huge WHO-like public company that will save humanity。 It’s not really stuff I want her feedback on。 But then it’s made worse by the fact that Covid-19 features very little in the book。 So those alternative and peripheral findings and ideas are basically what the book is about。 It's definitely not an ideal intro to Covid-19 as it only tackles a few main issues。 And it's not like the simple explanations will cut it in 10 years when people forget much about Covid-19。 By then it would have aged badly。 I do think it would have been a fairly strong intro to the pandemic when it was written and maybe even into the late 2020。 But nothing more than a strong intro。 Now， in June 2021， it feels too weirdly unfocused and lacking。 Had I read it just a year later I would have given it 2 stars at most as I would expect at least a chapter on the vaccines。 But even now it feels weird to read old news。It is fairly easy to read/listen to。 The audiobook narration is childish and silly， but you can understand most points being made。 That's the main selling point here。 Besides this there is not much I would recommend here besides the SARS chapter。 。。。more
Julie Suzanne
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I'm not a scientist， but to me this is an excellent book。 MacKenzi seems credible， knowledgeable， and presents facts and context in a way that the lay person can understand， and I feel much more knowledgeable about Covid 19， viruses， flu， pandemics， bats， the WHO， epidemiology， and governments' roles and responsibilities in terms of protecting us from infectious disease than I did before I read this。 I highly recommend this book to anyone else interested in these things。 I'm not a scientist， but to me this is an excellent book。 MacKenzi seems credible， knowledgeable， and presents facts and context in a way that the lay person can understand， and I feel much more knowledgeable about Covid 19， viruses， flu， pandemics， bats， the WHO， epidemiology， and governments' roles and responsibilities in terms of protecting us from infectious disease than I did before I read this。 I highly recommend this book to anyone else interested in these things。 。。。more
Stephanie
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Really interesting to read！ I'd like to hear the author's updates since it was written。 Really interesting to read！ I'd like to hear the author's updates since it was written。 。。。more
Emily
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A good analysis， with good suggestions for preventing and/or dealing with the next one。
Fiona
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Clear， concise and informative information about the science and management of viral diseases。
B。M。 M。 Polier
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Well now I get to be terrified that the covid 19 vaccines are leaky and are going to force the virus to mutate horribly and be worse than the start。 Also H5N1 scares the crap out of me。
Susan
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This book contains a lot of information on viruses， epidemics， pandemics and "almost" pandemics。 What scientists knew; what they predicted; warnings issued; warnings heeded and those not heeded。 Ms。 MacKenzie explains some of the most recent advances in studying viruses along with their setbacks， as well as the progresses we've made and the valuable and essential lessons we need to learn from this COVID experience。 This book was published in June 2020， so there is already a lot more information This book contains a lot of information on viruses， epidemics， pandemics and "almost" pandemics。 What scientists knew; what they predicted; warnings issued; warnings heeded and those not heeded。 Ms。 MacKenzie explains some of the most recent advances in studying viruses along with their setbacks， as well as the progresses we've made and the valuable and essential lessons we need to learn from this COVID experience。 This book was published in June 2020， so there is already a lot more information available。 Read it。 Learn it。 And as the author states in her preface: "Learning from this pandemic and preventing the next one will take political action of all kinds， from everyone。 The more people understand what we need to do， the more likely it is to be done。 People vote。 People march。 People pressure。 People decide to study virology or public health or nursing or vaccine engineering or communication。。。。 We can do it 。。。。 We have to。" 。。。more
Tim Cigelske
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This is the first book I could finish since COVID。 It's not the first book I thought I wanted to read， but I found it fascinating and ultimately empowering to understand the "why" behind pandemics。 Virus outbreaks are increasing due to deforestation/ encroachment on wildlife， global travel， climate change that promotes pathogen-carrying wildlife and insect migration， factory farming with human-to-animal contact （especially chickens and pigs）， and cutbacks in infectious disease research。 So what This is the first book I could finish since COVID。 It's not the first book I thought I wanted to read， but I found it fascinating and ultimately empowering to understand the "why" behind pandemics。 Virus outbreaks are increasing due to deforestation/ encroachment on wildlife， global travel， climate change that promotes pathogen-carrying wildlife and insect migration， factory farming with human-to-animal contact （especially chickens and pigs）， and cutbacks in infectious disease research。 So what can we do about it？ The book is written by a journalist who has been a science writer for 36 years， and she rightly focuses on the importance of governments and international cooperation to prevent and mitigate future outbreaks。 At the same time， I'd like to read more about what we can do on an individual and local level。 Reducing our reliance on factory farming and animal agriculture seems like a logical place to start， for the health of the planet and all of us with "shared catastrophic risk。" In other words， we're all in this together。 。。。more
Radoslav Nedelchev
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Някои мисли， породени от книгата и аргумент срещу настойчивата теза， че ковид19 е изпуснат от лаборатория нарочно или случайно。Ако е така， това до известна степен сваля отговорността от правителствата （глобалния елит， ако предпочитате;P） за липсата на адекватна подготовка。 Необходимостта от такава е неведнъж подчертавана от сериозни учени， че и от Бил Гейтс， който е може би най-известният от всички。 Защо да се дават средства за учени， лаборатории， ако те ще изпускат вируси？Няма никакви доказател Някои мисли， породени от книгата и аргумент срещу настойчивата теза， че ковид19 е изпуснат от лаборатория нарочно или случайно。Ако е така， това до известна степен сваля отговорността от правителствата （глобалния елит， ако предпочитате;P） за липсата на адекватна подготовка。 Необходимостта от такава е неведнъж подчертавана от сериозни учени， че и от Бил Гейтс， който е може би най-известният от всички。 Защо да се дават средства за учени， лаборатории， ако те ще изпускат вируси？Няма никакви доказателства， че ковид е роден в лаборатория， като генетичния му състав по-скоро индикира за естествен произход。 Вестоносците носят лоши вести - за едни пари， които трябват да се изхарчат в посока превенция за бъдещи пандемии， които я станат， я не станат факт след 10 години， така че по-добре да убием вестоносците。 И да изхарчим парите за икономически растеж или война。 Все хубави неща， но загубите от ковид вече са чудовищни и светът най-вероятно ще си вземе някаква поука。Не казвам， че някои умишлено прокарва тази теза， търсейки точно този ефект， а само че крайният резултат може да е такъв。 。。。more
Felipe Rivera Torres
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A great book， really puts things into perspective on what exactly happened to get us to this point in the pandemic。 Its very frustrating to read that many people predicted this outcome and not enough was done。 Its also incredibly frightening to read how woefully unprepared we are for the “inevitable” flu pandemic that is to come。
Colleen
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I understand this subject could be a bit dry， but I don't think the narrator of this audiobook helped it along。 Nevertheless， the content of this book was very important and I appreciate Debora thoroughly debunking so many conspiracies about COVID and so quickly （in terms of pandemic on set to publishing date） too。 Thank you Debora！ I understand this subject could be a bit dry， but I don't think the narrator of this audiobook helped it along。 Nevertheless， the content of this book was very important and I appreciate Debora thoroughly debunking so many conspiracies about COVID and so quickly （in terms of pandemic on set to publishing date） too。 Thank you Debora！ 。。。more
Pablo
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Mid reading review， ignore until done。I very rarely give 5 stars， generally they are reserved to beautiful masterpieces or books changed my life。 I'm giving 5 stars to this one because I hope it changes the world。 I can't verify all the claims， because I'm not a scientist， but I can verify some and the deeper I go the more disappointed I am in humanity。 Covid-19 shouldn't have happened。Did you know that China has a system to alert for cluster of respiratory diseases that can't be explained exact Mid reading review， ignore until done。I very rarely give 5 stars， generally they are reserved to beautiful masterpieces or books changed my life。 I'm giving 5 stars to this one because I hope it changes the world。 I can't verify all the claims， because I'm not a scientist， but I can verify some and the deeper I go the more disappointed I am in humanity。 Covid-19 shouldn't have happened。Did you know that China has a system to alert for cluster of respiratory diseases that can't be explained exactly to catch viruses like Covid-19？ It was created after SARS and then ignored。Did you know we already knew most viruses that can go pandemic come from bats？ and yet we continue to mess with them instead of leaving it alone （bat feces are used as medicine）。Did you know that a predecessor to Covid-19 was found in bats in 2014 and the scientist warned about it being a potential pandemic in the future？ And we did nothing。Did you know the people that know what they are doing are saying that a flue pandemic is coming and we have no way to deal with it？Did you know that diseases getting tamer when they go pandemic is a myth？So。。。 whose fault is it？ The scientist and our limited science？ Nah。 We need to do more science， but we already have more science than we are actually using。It's the politicians that ignore the scientist and make stupid decisions， like Boris Johnson going for herd immunity or Donald Trump disbanding their pandemic team。 Nah。。。 it's not the politicians。It's the people that vote for them， the whole of humanity， the anti-vaxers， the anti-experts， the anti-science， the ones who vilify knowledge。 It's on all of them that we are on this mess。。。 and frankly， I don't see it getting fixed anytime soon。We either become a scientific species or an extinct one。 。。。more
Jesse Washburn
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Solid history and interesting analysis on diseases and world responses。 Surprisingly quick read。
Karoline Bonnerud
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Vi lever i et komplekst system， vi trenger flaggermusa og influensapandemier vil oppstå。 «Hvis du tar med deg én ting fra alt vi hittil har gjennomgått i denne boken， bør det være at denne pandemien har vært forutsett i flere tiår， og likevel var vi ikke forberedt。»
Mischenko
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In early 2020 we began hearing on the news alerts of a new virus originating in China。 This hadn’t been the first time， and many brushed it off。 I told my husband something seemed strange about this virus。 People were in a panic in Wuhan， my oldest son was just flying in from L。A。， and I was concerned。 When I told my husband and some friends that this virus was going to sweep the nation， they laughed at me。 It wasn’t a month later that it was in the U。S。， and people were starting to lose their l In early 2020 we began hearing on the news alerts of a new virus originating in China。 This hadn’t been the first time， and many brushed it off。 I told my husband something seemed strange about this virus。 People were in a panic in Wuhan， my oldest son was just flying in from L。A。， and I was concerned。 When I told my husband and some friends that this virus was going to sweep the nation， they laughed at me。 It wasn’t a month later that it was in the U。S。， and people were starting to lose their lives。 Everyone had questions。 No one seemed to have answers。 Worst of all， we and our governments didn’t do what was required to stop it， and so the virus flourished quickly all around the globe。Covid-19 brought on a whole new set of stressors for me last year and still now。 We’ve all been affected differently。 One thing this pandemic most definitely did to me was inspire me to learn more about viruses and virology。 This book written by science journalist Debora MacKenzie is just one of the resources I’ve come across that covers Covid-19 from the very beginning stages。 My eyes about popped out of my head when I read about how this virus really isn’t ‘new’ at all。 Where did it come from？ Why couldn’t we stop it？ What can we do to stop pandemics from happening in the future？ All of these questions are covered in this book， and there’s so much more。 Scads of research went into this book。 It’s loaded—extremely informative—with strong writing that’s never over-pompous or boring。 I’ll admit that some of what’s written has been written before and wasn’t news to me， but many of the facts and statistics were eye-opening regardless。 I was in it from beginning to end。 If you have an interest in viruses， specifically Covid-19， SARS， H1N1， MERS， Zika， and Ebola， grab this book and give it a try。 It’s one worth keeping for reference as well。 5***** 。。。more
Tim Flaherty
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