Pandemics: A Reading List

When we began the research process for our new series on avian influenza, Fowl Plague, there was plenty of existing material to build on. Debate and discussion about the best response to emerging infectious diseases have been going on since the dawn of recorded history.

We wanted to share some of our research with you, so we’ve put together this comprehensive reading list that covers not only avian influenza but the mechanics and sociology of pandemics more generally. It’ll get you up to speed quickly on the basics of epidemiology, alongside a handful of case studies of historical events.

As ever, if you think we’ve missed something crucial, leave us a comment below.

“The epidemic is seldom mentioned, and most Americans have apparently forgotten it. This is not surprising. The human mind always tries to expunge the intolerable from memory, just as it tries to conceal it while current.”

— H.L. Mencken, 1956, on the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918

Start Here

If you’re only going to read one thing on this list, make it (((Wendy Orent)))’s fantastic 2014 article for Aeon titled “How Plagues Really Work”.

She goes back through the history of humankind’s relationship with pathogens, building up a potent argument that the next pandemic will erupt not from untouched jungles or melting permafrost, but from densely-populated places like hospitals and refugee camps. Here’s an excerpt:

The Athenian plague shows how a disease of mild to moderate virulence can heat up in what we can only call a ‘disease factory’ — a place where the sick are trapped together with the well, causing infection to spread like wildfire.

The full story is not only gripping but grounded in hard facts and human history. Go read it now.

Then Try

After that, dig into some of the main conversations surrounding the subject in more detail with these great reads.

• This Is How The World Gets Sick
  Michael T. Osterholm & Mark Olshaker, Fast Company [22-minute read]
• The Public Is Us
  Anya Groner, Guernica [14-minute read]
• The Virus Hunters
  Jeffrey Marlow, Undark [28-minute read]
• How Zika Conquered the Americas
  Ed Yong, The Atlantic [6-minute read]
• Where Will The Next Pandemic Come From And How Can We Stop It?
  David Quammen, Popular Science [27-minute read]

Dive Deeper

Alright, now we’re opening the floodgates. If you’re going on a trip and want to fill your read-it-later client of choice with fantastic writing (in no particular order), then we’ve got your back.

• Pale Rider review — painful lessons of the flu pandemic
  Miranda Seymour, The Guardian [5-minute read]
• The Deadliest Virus
  Michael Specter, The New Yorker [20-minute read]
• The Plague Year
  Gina Kolata, The New York Times [6-minute read]
• Preparing for the Next Pandemic
  Michael T. Osterholm, Foreign Affairs [23-minute read]
• An Ebola Doctor’s Return From The Edge of Death
  Denise Grady, The New York Times [11-minute read]
• Nature’s Most Perfect Killing Machine
  Leigh Cowart, Hazlitt [18-minute read]
• Flu Warning: Beware the Drug Companies
  Helen Epstein, The New York Review of Books [2-minute read]
• As Earth Warms, the Diseases That May Lie within Permafrost Become a Bigger Worry
  Sara Goudarzi, Scientific American [4-minute read]

An Actual Book

Sometimes it’s nice to relax on the sofa and get really into a subject with an actual book, and there are plenty to choose from.

• Gina Kolata — Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It
• Michael Greger — Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching
• Laurie Garrett — The Coming Plague
• Michael T. Osterholm & Mark Olshaker — Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs
• David Quammen — Spillover
• Steven Johnson — The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic
• Laura Spinney — Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World (released in the US on September 12, 2017)

Watch and Listen

Finally, if you prefer to learn in audiovisual form, here are a bunch of themed documentaries and podcasts you can enjoy instead.

• Flu Factories: Tracing the Origins of the Swine Flu Epidemic
  A one-hour presentation on the role that factory farming plays in the emergence of flu pandemics.

• My Wish: Help Stop The Next Pandemic
  TED Prize winner 2006 Larry Brilliant and what needs to be done to identify and contain pandemics before they spread.

• Avian Flu
  A short documentary covering the basics of avian influenza.

• Talking Biotech: Stopping Avian Flu Spread
  An episode of the Talking Biotech podcast that covers generically engineered chickens that don’t spread avian flu.

• Laurie Garrett: What Can we Learn From the 1918 Flu?
  An excellent TED talk from the Pulitzer-prize winning Laurie Garrett

Did we miss a fantastic point of reference that should be included here? Post a response below with your suggestions!

This article is part of Fowl Plague, a new series from How We Get To Next. To find out more, visit the series homepage. The first episode will be published on August 11, 2017 — if you’d like to get an email about new episodes, sign up here.

Top Image credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rose Gudex.