The Next Pandemic Thesis

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“Our failure to more deeply understand and more consistently attend to bigger issues leaves us, as they say along the fault lines in California, just waiting for the big one.” In the past few decades we have seen outbreaks of influenza, hantavirus, Ebola, monkey pox, anthrax, avian flu, and most recently, Zika, along with disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Citing the CDC, the WHO, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the Journal of Infectious Diseases, among others, Khan explores past outbreaks and disasters while weaving in his own narrative through facts and anecdotes. Ultimately, The Next Pandemic effectively argues that there must be long-term change in our infrastructure and how we handle our resources if we are going to prevent future …show more content…

Kahn worked in public health for twenty-five years, was an officer of the Epidemic Intelligence Service and a member of the US Public Health Service, and is a former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since 2014, he has been the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska. During his time with the CDC, he encountered many cases-allowing him to provide his own unique perspective on epidemics and pandemics in recent history. He worked around the world encountering diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS, got involved in the 2001 bioterrorism anthrax case in Washington DC, and was an initial public health responder after Hurricane …show more content…

While it is a nonfiction book and contains a healthy serving of scientific terms, The Next Pandemic also eases the reader into it by explaining the diseases and procedures in simpler terms and by providing relief from the science through personal stories of cooking halal in rural Congo, driving around Sierra Leone, and puzzling together clues to solve where an epidemic started, how to contain it, and how to prevent it from happening again. Khan equates national headlines about Ebola and Zika to canaries in a coal mine, arguing that they are only evidence of a larger problem with public health. By using familiar comparisons and raising alarm without causing panic, Khan brings awareness to the problems we face as a world in a memorable and factual

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