In The Viral Storm award-winning biologist Nathan Wolfe - known as 'the Indiana Jones of virus hunters' for his work in jungles and rain forests across the world - shows the threat of a global pandemic is greater than we have ever imagined.

 

The Viral Storm examines how viruses like HIV, swine flu, and bird flu have almost wiped us out in the past - and may do so in the future. It explores why modern life makes us so vulnerable to global pandemics, and what new technologies can do to prevent them. Wolfe's provocative vision may leave you feeling distinctly uncomfortable - but it will reveal exactly what it is we are up against.

 

Nathan Wolfe is the Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Human Biology at Stanford University and Director of Global Viral Forecasting, a pandemic early warning system which monitors the spillover of novel infectious agents from animals into humans. Wolfe has been published in or profiled by Nature, Science, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Economist, Forbes and many others. Wolfe was the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship in 1997 and was awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) International Research Scientist Development Award in 1999 and the prestigious NIH Director's Pioneer Award in 2005.

 

Reviews:

 

'An excellent piece of scientific gothic, rich in descriptions of the threat we face from emerging viruses' Nature

 

'Part autobiography, part warning ... enthralling' BBC Focus

 

'Quietly terrifying ... It's hard not to feel a bit feverish at times while reading' Boston Globe

 

'Wolfe has an important story to tell and as a virologist at the forefront of pandemic forecasting, he is the perfect person to tell it. He explains the science clearly and never stoops to sensationalism - the evidence of our increasing vulnerability to pandemics speaks for itself' Guardian

 

'The plague-ridden future imagined by this authoritative, measured, yet gripping book is extremely alarming' Sunday Times

 

'Nathan Wolfe is saving the world from near-inevitable pandemic ... a kick-ass book' Mary Roach, author of Stiff

 

'The world's most prominent virus hunter' New Yorker

 

'A good place to start preparing for what might come' New Humanist