Author, Mark Jerome Walters discusses his new book, ‘Seven Modern Plagues’
A new book, which examines seven relatively new and emerging infectious diseases and how human action and the change in the ecology, causes them to produce, according to the author, “ecodemics”.
The title of the book is Seven Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them. I had the opportunity to speak to the author, Dr. Mark Jerome Walters on Saturday’s airing of the talk radio show, Outbreak News This Week.
A professor, veterinarian and professional journalist, Walters looks at the following diseases through an eco-lens: Mad Cow disease, HIV/AIDS, Salmonella DT104, Lyme disease, Hantavirus, West Nile virus, and emerging strains of the flu, with special mention for the up and coming Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and how humans are causing them by altering the environment.
During the interview, we looked at in some detail how human action that changed the environment produced Lyme disease into a disease that infects some 300,000 people in the United States annually, how West Nile virus arrived in the US in 1999 and is now seen in the lower 48 states and how the various emerging strains of influenza have appeared in part by how we farm poultry and pigs around the world.
This is a good read that looks at disease epidemics from a different angle. It’s well written and not too technical that a layperson would definitely enjoy it. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
Seven Modern Plagues is published by Island Press and is available at Amazon.com.
