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Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Greger
Publisher: Lantern Books
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy New: $19.80
You Save: $10.20 (34%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 169835
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 465
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.4
ISBN: 1590560981
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.50896203
EAN: 9781590560983
Publication Date: November 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
From age-old scourges such as smallpox and tuberculosis to emerging threats like AIDS and SARS, our interactions with animals have always played a pivotal role as a source of human disease. Bird flu is the latest such menace coming home to roost. Leading public health authorities now predict as inevitable a pandemic of influenza, triggered by bird flu and expected to lead to millions of deaths around the globe. The influenza virus has existed for millions of years as an innocuous intestinal virus of wild ducks. What turned a harmless waterborne duck virus into a killer? In Bird Flu, Dr. Michael Greger traces the human role in the evolution of this virus, whose humble beginnings belie its transformation into a killer mutant strain with the potential to become as ferocious as Ebola and as contagious as the common cold. In the face of the coming pandemic, Dr. Greger reveals what we can do to protect our families and what human society to can do to reduce the likelihood of such catastrophes in the future. Amid the growing panic surrounding this issue, Dr. Greger takes a sobering look at a deadly cycle and offers a solution to ending it.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
A terrifying possibility and sad commentary on our exploitation of animals August 22, 2007
Michael Greger's "Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching" is more terrifying than anything a horror writer could imagine, since it depicts a real-life doomsday scenario that seems poised to occur very soon; indeed, the new H5N1 strain of influenza, known as "bird flu," has mutated into a form that can be transmitted by human contact, though not yet on a massive scale, meaning a mass outbreak is more a question of when, not if.
Whereas humans generally contract the disease by ingesting contaminated birds, or being in frequent contact with them, bird flu could blanket the globe when the virus has learned to jump easily from human to human. The author writes: "One day soon, experts fear, with more and more people becoming infected, the virus will finally figure out the combination -- the right combination of mutations to spread not just in one elevator or building, but every building, everywhere, around the globe. One superflu virus. It's happened before, and experts predict it many soon happen again."
Dr. Greger sets the stage for what could come by giving readers a grisly account of a previous avian influenza outbreak: the 1918 flu pandemic, in which 50 to 100 million humans perished. These were gruesome deaths, with blood oozing from eye sockets as the victim's lungs liquefied. Fatalities were so abundant that officials were unable to keep up with burying the corpses. It seems this was merely a sample of what's in store for humanity. "As devastating as the 1918 pandemic was," Dr. Greger writes, "on average the mortality rate was less than 5%. The H5N1 strain of bird flu virus now spreading like a plague across the world currently kills about 50% of its known human victims, on par with some strains of Ebola, making it potentially ten times as deadly as the worst plague in human history." One reason, he explains, is the 1918 virus attacked only the lungs, whereas H5N1 shuts down all the internal organs.
"Bird Flu" eloquently contextualizes the subject, giving us a greater understanding of the virus' origins and our critical role in it. The director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States, Dr. Greger examines bird flu from every angle, creating a meticulously researched work that traces how agricultural, scientific, environmental, political and economic forces have conspired to transform a virus that once threatened only waterfowl into a "highly pathogenic avian influenza" destined to lay waste to large segments of human population.
Among the stops on the author's bird flu reality tour is President George W. Bush's decision in April of 2006 to lift the ban on poultry products from China -- a country well known for its recent outbreaks of avian influenza -- possibly in return for China's agreement to drop its mad cow disease-related ban on U.S. beef imports. (One disease for another, perhaps? No trade deficit there.) Other troubling highlights include the world's inadequate hospital capacity and the inability to create a vaccine, or enough of it, to combat a virus that kills half its victims. In other words, we are as ill-prepared for avian flu today as we were in 1918. And, as Dr. Greger notes, not only is H5N1 worse than what our grandparents faced, but 21st-century transportation means a virus can travel around the planet in 24 hours, not a year.
The book is also a sobering lesson in how many of our human ailments, from the common cold to AIDS, have come from our oppression of animals, especially the practice of breeding and raising them for food. (Dr. Greger notes that human influenza began with the domestication of ducks 4,500 years ago.) Yet authorities refuse to confront the obvious cause of this "virus of our own hatching," preferring instead to devote their resources to containing the outbreak by culling chickens and turkeys and extolling the virtues of well-cooked meat.
Even without the looming pandemic, "Bird Flu" reminds us that eating animal flesh can be deadly. Dr. Greger writes: "For the same reason that people don't get Dutch Elm Disease or ever seem to come down with a really bad case of aphids, food products of animal origin are the source of most cases of food poisoning, with chicken the most common culprit." He notes that although the USDA asserts that proper cooking methods kill all viruses, including bird flu, 76 million Americans still suffer food poisoning every year and an estimated 5,000 die from food-borne illness. The average American kitchen, it seems, has become a biohazard, with pathogenic bacteria found on food-preparation surfaces, sinks and utensils. Dr. Greger quotes flu expert Albert Osterhaus, who concluded that "the gastrointestinal tract of humans is a portal of entry for H5N1."
Although pandemics seem inevitable, Dr. Greger's landmark book suggests an obvious (some might say radical) solution: the elimination of intensive poultry production. Perhaps this is more wishful thinking, given the world's ever-growing appetite for cheap animal protein, but others in the scientific community are also supporting this recommendation, so we may at least see improvements in the way agribusiness operates. "Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching" could herald dramatic changes in farming practices, finally driving decision-makers to critically examine not only how this virus came to be, but how we can curtail it and future diseases lurking within animal factories around the globe.
Mark Hawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism
Essential (and surprisingly entertaining) emergency reading March 14, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I didn't want to read this book. Maybe you don't either. But you must. And when you do, you'll find that the author has made it easy, and even entertaining, for you to learn everything you never wanted to know about bird flu.
Michael Greger writes in an engaging and accessible style that will keep you turning pages as he guides you through the history of zoonotic (animal-based) diseases and explains how contemporary factory farming and meat-packing practices not only make the emergence of new diseases more likely but also place consumers at risk of food poisoning by everyday microorganisms like E. Coli and Salmonella. Despite his somber subject matter, Greger is upbeat, giving us the bad news in a way that energizes us to do something about it.
It can happen here. It has happened here. The 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more Americans than World War II was a bird flu. The next pandemic will be too. We all need to know what we might be able to do to prevent or mitigate that pandemic. You need to what to do to protect yourself and your loved ones when the pandemic comes. Read this book now and make sure that the public policy makers who are supposed to be looking out for you read it too.
Superb work on avian flu history and how to plan for a pandemic March 13, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Watching a pandemic unfold and take shape before your eyes is like watching paint dry. It is an agonizing process, slow and painful. But at the end, the product is there for all to see.
This is the book to read while watching the paint dry. Like Mike Davis' excellent "The Monster at Our Door," Dr. Greger has done a lot of the heavy lifting for you. He has read countless books, scientific papers, newspaper and magazine articles along with medical/scientific journals and produced the definitive work on avian influenza for the lay reader, decision-maker and concerned citizen.
Along the way, Dr. Greger also shows us the principal underlying cause of the spread of H5N1 (factory farming of chickens and other poultry) and supports his theories with mountains of data, opinion and observation -- much of it directly from the commercial poultry industry he takes to task for putting the world in the shape it is in, bird flu-wise.
Certain passages contain the most relevatory things about food production I have read since Upton Sinclair. It would not take much more to turn me into a vegetarian! I now seek free-range chickens to consume.
Speaking of consume: Once you have read (in order) The Great Influenza (Barry), The Monster at Our Door (Davis) and Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own hatching (Greger), you are ready to dive into the scientific literature yourself. Have a go at all three of these excellent books.
Great book! February 6, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
It is amazing how much is hidden from the public eye. This author does a great job of explaining how the avian flu is VERY probable. You will never want to eat chicken or eggs again after reading this one and learning about overcrowding, filth, and treatment of chickens and how the avian flu is mutating because of the conditions that we (humans) create. I highly recommend this book.
Playing chicken with our food supply... January 24, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
BIRD FLU: A VIRUS OF OUR OWN HATCHING opens not with H5N1, the modern day "bird flu virus" which has the potential to mutate into the deadliest pandemic that the world has ever seen, but with H1N1, the influenza virus responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic. In just two short years, an estimated 50 to 100 million people perished as World War I raged on.
As described by author Michael Greger, MD, in chilling detail:
"What started for millions around the globe as muscle aches and a fever ended days later with many victims bleeding from their nostrils, ears, and eye sockets. Some bled inside their eyes; some bled around them. They vomited blood and coughed it up. Purple blood blisters appeared on their skin. [...] [The Chief of the Medical Services, Major Walter V. Brem] wrote that `often blood was seen to gush from a patient's nose and mouth.' In some cases, blood reportedly spurted with such force as to squirt several feet. `When pneumonia appeared,' Major Brem recounted, `the patients often spat quantities of almost pure blood.' They were bleeding into their lungs."
Yet, H1N1 had a "low" (relatively speaking) mortality rate of 2.5% to 5%. Compare that to H5N1, which thus far has killed 55% of those infected - and one must wonder why the possibility of bird flu pandemic is confined to occasional media reports that are quickly dwarfed by the latest Hollywood gossip. Is bird flu-inspired panic just another example of media sensationalism?
Not so, argues Greger. From 1918 he transitions seamlessly to the research laboratories of today. Greger, who is Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States and "an internationally recognized lecturer on public health issues", launches into Viral Biology 101, explaining in layman's terms how a virus reproduces, spreads, mutates, and interacts with its host. Though he's dealing with (arguably) dry subject matter, Greger manages to keep the discussion engaging via the liberal use of colorful analogies and sharp, witty prose. This isn't your high school bio textbook.
Once a basic understanding of viruses has been established, Dr. Greger addresses modern animal agriculture, specifically, how it's especially conducive to the transmission and evolution of avian influenza. Animals, particularly "broiler" (meat) and "laying" (egg) hens, are packed into windowless sheds by the thousands; by the time they're fully grown just 45 days later (in the case of broiler hens), they don't even have enough space to spread their wings or turn around. Chickens are selectively bred for fast growth or maximum egg production - much to the detriment of their immune systems. Rather than improve the birds' ability to stave off disease (which would come at the expense of their "energy efficiency"), large-scale corporate "factory farmers" opt to pump their livestock full of antibiotics, thus contributing to bacterial resistance in humans. Add to this mix the fact that chickens literally spend their short lives wallowing in their own feces (and sometimes even that of previously butchered flocks), and you've got the perfect environment for a virus such as H5N1 to thrive.
And thrive it has. The billions of chickens, turkeys, and pigs raised and slaughtered for food annually act like "petri dishes" in which avian influence can mingle, swapping genetic material in order to mutate, gradually evolving into a strain more lethal and infectious to humans. Their compromised immune systems and unsanitary and stressful living conditions only facilitate this process. Despite numerous attempts at eradicating the virus - for example, by wiping out entire flocks of chickens, to the tune of millions of birds at a time - H5N1 (along with additional viral strains) can still be found on many farms, throughout the world.
While some critics - particularly those in the animal agriculture industry - dismiss this as scare mongering, Greger argues his points convincingly, and offers a wealth of evidence to support his claims. Indeed, his "Reference" section spans an impressive 90 pages! Throughout the text, he quotes a myriad of experts in the field, including Robert Webster, Kennedy F. Shortridge, and Michael Osterholm, as well as health professionals from the USDA, CDC, FAO, and WHO. Even "food scientists" admit - in the comfort and familiarity of their own trade journals, mind you - that the industry is flirting with disaster. The general - nay, unanimous - consensus seems to be "when, not if."
A pandemic is inevitable, that is, unless we swiftly and dramatically move away from factory farming methods towards less intense animal agriculture methods, such as free range farming. Additionally, this must be preceded by a temporary global moratorium on meat and egg production, in order to eradicate the bird flu virus(es) already present in farm animals worldwide. None of which is bloody likely to happen.
Thus, Greger urges readers to take precautions before a pandemic hits. He recommends obtaining and filling a prescription for Tamiflu (the more effective of two antivirals used to treat avian influenza), as well as stocking up on necessary groceries and such - TODAY. Greger also advises readers on how to purify water with bleach, and concoct cheap, homemade hand sanitizer. Oh, and do make sure you have plenty of liquor, cigarettes and ammo on hand, just in case the world reverts to the barter system! Though Greger reiterates and even elaborates upon government-issued pandemic guidelines in this last section, I didn't exactly walk away with a sense of empowerment. The rest of BIRD FLU was so horrifying that stocking up on canned veggies and medical masks won't do much to ease my troubled mind.
Whether you're a vegan, a carnivore, an average Jane, a state Senator, an animal welfarist, or a hunter, BIRD FLU is one book you can't afford to ignore. For too long, we've been playing chicken with our food supply - and nature may soon see fit to reward our taste for cheap meat with a global pandemic.
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