Of Mice, Men, and Microbes: Hantavirus

In May 1993, a cluster of cases of a lethal disease among healthy young people brought the attention of the world to the southwestern deserts. A previously unknown disease was killing up to 80% of the people it infected.

The reaction in the area and across the nation mixed fear, lack of information, and the struggles of doctors to save the victims of an unknown killer with hard science and the age old rhythmns of the desert. What came out was the story of a virus that had been killing since man arrived in the American continents, Hantavirus, with deadly relatives across the Americas and across the world. This book explains why and how the virus kills, and why it is still killing today. Why all of the science aimed at a virus identified back in 1993 has not brought a vaccine or a cure is part of the story, as is how that killer virus fits into the story of "new" diseases across the world.

The story of hantavirus disease, what has happened since that first outbreak, and what the real risks are is laid out by an experienced scientist and an award winning journalist living and working in the area of the 1993 outbreak.

Covers the full story of the recent hantavirus outbreakIncludes interviews with survivors, and local reactionPresents the science in lay termsPlaces the event in the broader context of emerging diseases worldwideThe only account which takes the reader beyond the initial outbreak in 1993-1994, bringing them up to late 1998Discusses hantavirus disease in the U.S., Argentina, and Canada

The Heart of America/The Middle of Nowhere
An Outbreak of Fear
Unravelling the Mystery
Putting the Puzzle Together
Of Mice and Men
At Last, a Plan
Hantaviruses: Out of Asia
Other Hantaviruses
Three Billion Years
On the Origin of Viruses
Changes, Concealment, and Trojan Horses
Cousins
What We Know
How to Stop a Virus
Outbreaks
Appendix A: Center for Disease Control Guidelines on Prevention of HPS
Appendix B: Sources of Further Information
Appendix C: Abbreviations