The Fatal Strain

The author describes how, competing with witch doctors, prejudice and politics, researchers went into the homes of bird flu patients in Asia to collect specimens. Risking their lives, the doctors were working to determine if a virus had moved from animals to humans and if human-to-human transmission had occurred. The need to be accurate was paramount because declaring a pandemic requires consideration of the enormous economic and cultural consequences. Not known for embellishing his narrations, George Wilson takes a professional leap by giving regional accents to the Thai and Chinese participants in the story. Even though his voices don't resemble those of Asians speaking English, at least we can distinguish among the various people being quoted. Wilson's slow and meticulous reading suits an audiobook with copious details to absorb. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

September 7, 2009
With the current focus on the H1N1, or swine flu, people may have forgotten about the avian flu scare of a few years ago. The deadly avian, or H5N1, flu centered in Asia and garnered similar headlines in 2004, announcing fears of a pandemic. In his first book, Sipress, a writer for the Washington Post
, comes bearing the unhappy news that the avian flu threat grows more dire every day (outbreaks reported as recently as this year). Sipress rides shotgun with WHO researchers as they cross Southeast Asia tracking transmission of the disease and trying to persuade recalcitrant governments to report cases of avian flu and cull flocks of thousands of chickens. Yet possibly infected birds continue to be smuggled across borders, and experts say we are not appropriately prepared to combat a pandemic. Sipress writes at a breathless pace at times, and after a while his case histories blend. Remarkably, he makes no mention of the current H1N1 outbreak. But readers interested in public health or who like to stay abreast of all possible looming threats will want to read this.