Ebola The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus

About this book

Extracted from David Quammen's previous book Spillover, updated, and with additional material.

In 1976 a deadly virus emerged from the jungles of Sudan. As swiftly as it came, it disappeared, leaving no trace. Over the four decades since, Ebola has emerged sporadically, each time to devastating effect. It can kill up to 90 percent of its victims. In between these outbreaks, it is untraceable, hiding deep in the jungle. The search is on to find Ebola's elusive host animal. And until we find it, Ebola will continue to strike. Acclaimed science writer and explorer David Quammen first encountered the virus while he was traveling in the jungles of Gabon, accompanied by local men whose village had been devastated by a recent outbreak. Here he tells the story of Ebola – its past, present, and its unknowable future.

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Biography

David Quammen is an author and journalist who travels widely to some of the remotest corners of the earth. He writes for a broad range of publications such as Harper's, Esquire, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone and the New York Times, and is a Contributing Writer at National Geographic. His journalism has won him three National Magazine Awards, and he is the recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Quammen is the author of several acclaimed science and natural history titles, as well as a number of novels. His most recent book, Spillover, from which this book is largely extracted, is an exploration into how some of the world's most deadly viruses crossed over from non-human animals into humans. Spillover won the Science and Society Book Prize, from the National Association of Science Writers in the United States, and the Society of Biology Book Award in the United Kingdom.