Author Description

The sudden appearance and rapid spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002 served to alert the world to the fact that emerging infections are a global problem. Living in affluent societies with well developed health care systems does not necessarily protect people from the dangers posed by life-threatening infections. The SARS epidemic tested global preparedness for dealing with a new infectious agent and raised important questions: how did we do, and what did we learn? This book uses the SARS outbreak as a case study to enumerate the generic issues that must be considered when planning the control of emerging infections. Emerging infections are more than just a current biological fashion: the bitter ongoing experience of AIDS and the looming threat of pandemic influenza teach us that the control of infectious disease is a problem we have not yet solved. Scientists from a broad range of disciplines - biologists, physicians, and policy-makers - all need to prepare. But prepare for what? SARS: A Case Study in Emerging Infections provides an up-to-date and accessible overview of the tasks that must be addressed by a community that wishes to confront emerging infections. Each chapter is written by a world expert and offers an authoritative and timely overview of its subject. While focusing on SARS, the book addresses a whole range of pertinent considerations and issues, from the use of new mathematical models to account for