History of Epidemics: The Great Killing Power of the Minor

Author: Zhang Tiankan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: When medieval plague struck, humanity paid the price of tens of millions of lives. The tiny influenza virus, through the frequent movement and interaction of people during wartime, sent over 20 million people to their graves. Smallpox left behind by humans may not have been a crime of bodies strewn across the battlefield, but the "pockmarks" on the faces and bodies of patients caused unbearable suffering. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (prion disease) is not just the result of industrialization; it reflects a cruel way of life in human history—a relic of cannibalism, where the bloody and ruthless Ebola is a demon of modern society. The HIV virus is more like a silent vampire; when you are emaciated and critically ill, you may not even know that HIV has been lurking in your body for a long time. SARS has created the greatest panic today. This book will take you back through these disasters in human history, feel the most primal weapons of nature, and also the unyielding struggle of human civilization.