Fascinating, informative and utterly accessible! This meticulously researched book presents the stories of various diseases throughout history in a browseable and absorbing format. This was excellent and I utterly enjoyed it.

PATIENT ZERO: A BRIEF HISTORY of the SCIENCE STORIES BEHIND THE WORLD'S WORST DISEASES
BY: LYDIA KANG AND NATE PEDERSEN

This was a fascinating non-fictional treatise that chronicles how various diseases have been spread throughout the history of mankind. It opened my eyes to how Covid19 isn't the first time that pandemics have been spread throughout populations of people. I had previously heard about the Spanish flu back in 1918 that claimed a vast number of lives. In my mind that was the only disease to spread and take as many lives as the present pandemic that we are all facing today. I was astonished to be reminded that throughout time immemorial other pandemics and epidemics have been spread throughout various geographical places and infected people and this Title called, "Patient Zero," is derived and got its meaning from the first person who contracted various diseases without the knowledge that they were spreading it and infecting other people. One such person mentioned that I think we all have heard of is Typhoid Mary. She might not have been the first person infected with it, but she had no symptoms or idea that she was responsible for infecting so many people.

This was surely an eye opening reminder of how scary previously unknown diseases can infect one person throughout history and that person known as "Patient Zero," because that person is the first known individual that the identified disease can be traced back to can infect those who come in contact with him/her without anybody's knowledge that they are so contagious. I was reminded of the Ebola disease that was rampart in Zaire, Africa that happened during the 1970's, which I studied in my Pre-Medical Biology course during the early 1990's. I had forgotten about it and by reading about it here in this book it gave me a more in depth understanding of it. In my class we only briefly scratched the surface of Ebola and at that time Richard Preston wrote about it in his book called, "The Hot Zone," which was popular and I am confident that those who are the same age as I am are familiar with it. If you didn't read it I am sure you heard about it. It introduced me to the level four
Bio Hazard being the highest level in the hierarchy of the most precaution taken to isolate and contain the study of it in air tight chambers with those epidemiologists and scientists who studied it. The Ebola virus if infected could cause the person to bleed from the eyes and every other opening of the body causing death. I remember the scientists who studied it had to suit up in hazmat suits that reminded me of the front line medical personal who also cared for Covid19 patients who were similarly dressed before the vaccines were available.

Their have been many Plagues that have been deadly throughout history. This book covers the Science Stories behind the World's worst diseases in fascinating detail. It gives the first known person who contracted the disease at least as far as anybody knows and tells where that person lived. One interesting story was how infected Rye was responsible for when it was ground up into flour and baked into bread it gave people who ate the bread hallucinations in France after people enjoying a baguette. It later was discovered to be the originator of LSD. Other diseases covered are Smallpox, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis, HIV, Mad Cow Disease, Rabies, Polio, Cholera, Typhus, Typhoid Fever, Yellow Fever, Measles, Leprosy, Syphilis, and many more. The book is divided into three main sections which are the following: Infection; Spread and Containment.

This book was illuminating in its depictions of describing every disease, how it spread and it where its outbreak originated. It contained fabulous illustrations that added to its merits of the meticulous research that went in to describing the historical epidemics, pandemics, plagues and various other diseases throughout mankind. It was written so well and I appreciated how it is easily understandable to every audience to be able to comprehend the information regardless of whether you have a scientific background or not. In other words, this book is written in such a way that everybody can easily digest the information without prior knowledge of having been educated in science. It gives a vast amount of details in a concise presentation of every topic it covers so that it will appeal to anybody who is interested in the history of how almost every disease originated. You can easily grasp the subjects covered because it is introduced in such a way that it seems the intent of these two Authors' is for this book to be an educational resource. I do admit that it is scary in that it conveys how easy it is for pathological outbreaks to infect us not only in the past but in the present. We don't usually focus our attention on how animals in our every day environments can cause infectious diseases that are debilitating even with how far advanced we have become as a society in microbiology and medicine.

I always have loved deer and enjoyed seeing them enter our surroundings for example my father's home and the house I grew up with was surrounded by six acres of woods that my dad owned. He had many offers to sell the land to developers who wanted to build homes because the town I grew up in was a desirable town with dwindling land as its population grew. One phrase my father always said to me was that you can't make anymore land. Once it is all used up it is gone. So he refused to sell it to contractors because he enjoyed nature and giving the animals their space. My Dad kept his word never to sell off his extra acreage as long as he lived. My brother didn't have the same appreciation of wildlife preservation and sold my Dad's house after he died. If the house was left to me, I would have kept it as it had been. Deer could be spotted entering our yard and we loved to see them. With deforestation happening it causes animals to not be able to thrive in their natural wooded areas. It wasn't until reading this book that I realized that the awe that I derived with the beauty of the deer being viewed also has its drawbacks. The Tics that the deer carried is something that I never associated with Lyme disease as I tried to feed them apples. In most cases one doesn't realize they have been bitten by a Tic until it has already infected them. Usually, in some cases before you realize you have one it is too late because their damage is flowing through your blood. If you get Lyme disease, I don't have to tell you how sick you become. Mosquitoes which I have always tried to avoid carry serious diseases sometimes. Of course, we all realize that these creatures of nature don't intentionally infect us by biting us but this book reminded me how serious and what a danger of being infected by a bite can be. We humans think that we are more important than these lesser evolved species are. But isn't it fascinating that as carrier's of some of these deadly diseases that the lesser evolved aren't affected in the same ways that we are. I was aware of all of this before, but this book has brought it to the forefront of my consciousness to be more vigilant and careful, now more than ever.

I found reading "Patient Zero," to be a very enlightening reading experience and it has changed my viewpoints in many ways. It was an eye opening and educational experience that filled in the details of disease and its ways of infecting that gave me much to think about. I had heard of a lot of the the epidemics that took place before I was alive and also the ones that took place during my lifetime. This book was able to reveal to me the factual data about viruses and bacteria that continue to spread from animal to humans and I am grateful that I read this. I was amazed to learn more about most things that I had vaguely been aware of but now I have a much more in depth understanding of thanks to the easy to grasp way these two Authors' explained each illness and its origins. I plan on buying a physical copy when it soon publishes to be able to refer to whenever I want to refresh my mind on the massive amount of informative prevention it offers.

I have read and loved all of these two Authors' previous work and would recommend that you look into them if you are interested in learning more in depth about the history and origins of a host of intriguing topics. These two Authors' certainly possess the gift of presenting factual data in such an interesting manner that never reads as dry or dense and hooks your attention. I really enjoy the collaboration of these two Authors' writing style and think that together they have that gift of writing to inform with a flair of educating in terms of making the subject so easy to understand. It's learning and having fun at the same time. This book in particular is very relevant to the present pandemic we are enduring. It offers great insight as to how some diseases mutate and are so hard to eradicate. It opened my eyes about the way other species are able to not be effected by the diseases that they transmit to humans. And you would be surprised to learn that pets such as dogs and cats can also contribute to unintentionally transmitting disease. I enjoyed this non-fictional Brief History of the Science Stories Behind the World's Worst Diseases called, "Patient Zero," and I highly recommend it!

Publication Date: November 16, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen and Workman Publishing for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#PatientZero #LydiaKang #NatePedersen #WorkmanPublishing #NetGalley

This was a super interesting overview of the history and origins of different disease epidemics throughout history. I learned a lot not only about the diseases themselves, but how medicine has progressed through history to combat disease.

What a great book, especially during these uncertain times! As a frontline healthcare provider, I found it fascinating to read about the initial outbreaks of specific diseases, the spread, and containment. While I believe this book will be of particular interest to those working in the medical field, it is written in layman's terms so that you don't need an advanced degree to understand it. It covers a wide breadth of disease types, from Hansen's disease to rabies to smallpox to Ebola and Covid-19. I loved all the extra little informational / trivia bits included as well - historical figures who had the disease, historical facts about treatment methods, etc. While I received a free eBook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I'll be buying a physical copy when this is released - it would make a perfect gift for a medical student or anyone interested in weird history. I'll be buying one for my teenage son for Christmas!

Thanks to Netgalley and Workman Publishing Company for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

This was really interesting and easy to follow. There was a good number of relevant illustrations, a decent variety of illnesses discussed, and it had a very story like quality - we looked at the individuals and areas that an illness was being spread - it wasn’t dry or academic feeling, and I think anyone interested in infectious diseases and how they get started and spread, or just interested in history, could pick this up without much for knowledge and could follow along, pretty much at any age, even though it’s written to an adult audience.

i devoured this within one sitting. It was gross and so addictive, i loved it. I’ve always been a big fan of history and all things weird and mysterious so the origins of illnesses and diseases have always been intriguing to me. Don’t have anything negative to say about this one, i thoroughly enjoyed it & the illustrations were super helpful understanding the content.

This was a fascinating look into the history of disease and how it is managed, as well as how these topics are handled today. While it could have been easy for this to get boring and dry, it never did.

There was a lot of information presented, ranging from ancient times to present day, and all of it was presented logically and in terms that are easily understandable to the layperson. I was so incredibly intrigued to learn about the history and patient zero analysis of various diseases, ranging from Hansen's disease (leprosy) to typhoid fever to typhus to smallpox to the Plague to Ebola to rabies and even COVID-19. I also enjoyed learning how people had tried to treat these illnesses throughout history, as well as how the medical field has eventually learned to control, manage, and in some fortunate cases, even wipe out a few of these diseases.

There were many cases where historical medical knowledge and even the spread of diseases were sensitive topics, such as the spread of disease into the New World by Columbus and his men. I think the authors did a great job of portraying the situations in a sensitive manner, using facts that were as historically accurate as possible.

The material was clearly well-researched, and presented in a linear and easy-to-understand manner. It touches on diseases from all over the world, where they come from, and how they've been treated, both ineffective and effective means. There's a lot of cool little tidbits relevant to the material thrown in as well, including famous people afflicted by the disease, current information or presentations, and random historical facts. Overall, it was a really cool and interesting book, and it was surprisingly interesting.

Once again, Kang and Pedersen hit the jackpot in science writing

I loved this book. I loved the conversational tone and the light-hearted moments, the latter of which is a stellar accomplishment given the subject matter. The visuals are also great. I had already read “Quakery” by this writing duo and loved it, so I had high expectations for this book. I was not disappointed. None of the chapters is very long and I fell into the trap of reading just one more before putting the book down. It was never just one more. Kang and Pedersen very effectively communicate scientific information in simple, enjoyable language. I consider this book a must-read in this day and age. Their coverage of the COVID pandemic, although short, is one of the best I’ve read. I would be willing to read a much longer work by them in this area. Thank you to Netgalley and Workman Publishing Company for the advance reader copy.

Patient Zero by Lydia Kang is an amazing book. Easy to read and with such good research the book kept my interest all the way through and kept me wanting more. The information is very pertinent in these days of Covid.

Patient Zero
by Lydia King, Nate Pedersen
Pub Date: Nov.9, 2021
Workman Publishing

A very timely history of disease outbreaks, from the authors of Quackery: stories of outbreaks (and their patient zeros), plus chapters on the science, culture, and cures for different types of epidemics and pandemics. Popular reading on a timely topic.
Thanks to Workman Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.
I found this book to be really interesting.

4star

Such an amazing book. This book is about the worlds worst diseases. The infection, the spread and the containment. It’s easy and entertaining to read. That said, yes it will make you cringe, want to check your vaccination records and send you reeling in fear from every cough, surface contact and open container of food to which you are exposed.
Each chapter starts with an innocent idilic story. An Italian boy reclines under a tree in the country side and then fights off a mad dog which bites him leading to rabies…. You can’t stop reading as the scenario leads into gross details of the disease, the culprits, the history, the foolish cures and present day containment.
So 60% of all the viruses and deadly diseases are a result of zoonoses, viruses spreading from animals to humans. From the dawn of time viruses have continually attempted to consume us. I’m not sure how I feel. Either the human race is amazingly resilient, or constantly losing the battles with determined microscopic organisms! The plaque is alive and well, TB Is still an available romantic way to die and leprosy is still an option.
I’m amazed by the incredible minds that found cures, vaccines and methods to handle the various disease. Even more amazed by how scientist can trace and find the patient zero. Typhoid Mary and Gaetan Dugan, they found you!
Learn how cannibalism works ( the delicacy of a body aging and ripening with maggots), how monks “cured” St. Anthony’s fire, how politics and religion used and manipulated outbreaks and viruses and all they ways societies used biological warfare.
Be forewarned there are some crazy viruses out there. Legionaries disease, Ebola, leptospirosis, hantavirus, AIDs, etc. I think I have diagnosed myself with them all…

Looks really interesting but I can't give stars if I can't read it. Would not have clicked on it had I known there is no kindle option.

Interesting history of diseases shown by revealing the tragic stories of the people infected. Medicine is brought to life.

This book is so readable and is bursting with an enormous amount of incredibly well-researched, well written information, It is a book that anyone with an interest in biology will find totally fascinating - it has a real hard to put down feel about it

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a wonderful read.

I received a free e-ARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always found infectious diseases to be fascinating, so I've read a lot of books about them (some about specific diseases and others about a range of different ones.) And I have to say, this book was one of the best I've read.

Firstly, the authors covered a really broad range of diseases/illnesses including, but not limited to -ergotism, Ebola, Yellow Fever, The Plague, Mad Cow Disease, Leprosy, Measles, Influenza, Rabies, and Smallpox. I think it was really clever how they chose a specific outbreak/epidemic in order to explore the disease and it's symptoms, as well as the socio-historical context in which it occurred, discussing relevant issues such as the economic impact, or religious beliefs (a fun fact I didn't know was that the Christian Church in Europe encouraged people to give alms to people with leprosy in exchange for prayers, so despite the fact lepers were outcast from society and shunned, they could still have some participation in spiritual life on the margins and have money to feed themselves... at least theoretically.)

These chapters are interspersed with chapters exploring concepts related to infectious disease and outbreaks, such as zoonoses, the development of germ theory, the history of autopsy, public health measures, and politicisation of plagues (such as with COVID-19.)

The authors have managed to pack in a ton of information into this book without the writing becoming too dense. It's easy to read, and aimed at a lay audience, rather than professionals. There are heaps of full colour images to support the text as well.
If you have even a passing interest in medicine, diseases, science, public health or history, this is an excellent read.

Patient Zero: A Curious History Of the World’s Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang, MD, ( a practicing internal medicine physician and author ) and Nate Pedersen (a librarian, historian, and freelance journalist with over 400 publications in print and online ) was a brilliant book.

Here is the publisher’s blurb about the book:

“From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us.

Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a particular disease or virus—smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, HIV—that combine “Patient Zero” narratives, or the human stories behind outbreaks, with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more.

Learn the tragic stories of Patient Zeros throughout history, such as Mabalo Lokela, who contracted Ebola while on vacation in 1976, and the Lewis Baby on London’s Broad Street, the first to catch cholera in an 1854 outbreak that led to a major medical breakthrough. Interspersed are origin stories of a different sort—how a rye fungus in 1951 turned a small village in France into a phantasmagoric scene reminiscent of Burning Man. Plus the uneasy history of human autopsy, how the HIV virus has been with us for at least a century, and more.”

This book was fascinating and quite readable to a non medical professional, and I learned A LOT. If you are squeamish, you might not appreciate some of the very well done illustrations in the book, but I am not, so it was just incredibly informative to me.

This was quite a timely book to read right now, but as it went to the publisher for editing in early 2021, you will not find a very long section on coronavirus. That science is still evolving, and I am sure the authors who dug out numerous sources and research and history and facts about other infectious diseases did that on purpose.

It was sheer brilliance at examining the following diseases: ergotism, ebola, the plague, mad cow disease, yellow fever, HIV, typhus, measles, leprosy, syphilis, typhoid fever, 1918 influenza, polio, hepatitis C, cholera, rabies, tuberculosis, and smallpox. And it is divided into three sections: Infection, Spread, and Containment.

I am not a young person, and so many of these diseases have cropped up in the world around me, making this information fascinating.

Here is an example from the book about ergotism—a disease most of us have probably never heard of—to give you a feel for the book. This book is not published in its final form so keep that in mind. But it will give you a feel for how fascinating this book is:

“ERGOTISM

Patient ZERO: Unknown

Cause: Claviceps purpurea (fungus)

Symptoms: Double vision, hallucinations, burning limb pains, convulsions, gangrene Where: Often in places where rye was farmed

When: Primarily before the 1800s, but occasionally thereafter

Transmission: Bread made with contaminated flour

Little-Known Fact: Experimentation with the ergot fungus led to the creation of LSD.

One of life’s simpler pleasures is perfectly baked French bread. The French long ago elevated bread baking to an art form. A crispy-chewy baguette from the local boulangerie could be the closest thing to bliss in a typical French repast. It is against this culinary backdrop that a small
village named Pont-Saint-Esprit suffered a deadly nightmare from the innocent (and culturally ubiquitous) daily purchase of a freshly baked baguette.

On August 15, 1951, dozens of people in Pont-Saint-Esprit suddenly became violently sick, complaining of stomach pain, nausea, and insomnia. Over the next few days, hundreds more joined them. If that weren’t odd enough, the stricken reeked of a strange, disagreeable odor rem- iniscent of dead mice.

Nighttime in the village was a strange event. Numerous insomniacs walked the streets, happily greeting each other in the midst of vivid, euphoric hallucina- tions. Some reported hearing heavenly choruses and seeing brilliant colors.

But things quickly took a turn for the horrific, as some hallucinations became nightmares. A terrified young girl believed she was being devoured by tigers. A garage owner became convinced he was a circus performer and began walking across the cable of a suspension bridge over the Rhône River.

The stories kept coming, and they were increasingly outlandish. A woman grieved over her children, who she thought had been ground into sausages. A man couldn’t understand why he was suddenly shrinking. The head of the farmers cooperative was seized by the compulsion to fill page after page with poetry—if he stopped, he was sure he would have to jump out a window.

Some of the locals actually did take the leap. A man, convinced that his brain was being devoured by red snakes, jumped to his death. Another man also threw himself from a window, breaking both legs in the fall but surviving, then try- ing in excruciating desperation to keep running from whatever vision plagued him. Another would-be suicide attempt involved someone about to leap into the Rhône River, screaming, “I am dead and my head is made of copper and I have snakes in my stomach and they are burning me!” Thankfully, his friends stopped him before he ended up in the river.

Even the local animals were behaving erratically. A dog chewed on stones until it wore away all of its teeth. Local ducks started marching around the village in straight lines.

To say it was a strange time was to do disservice to strange times. So what was happening? The world’s worst collective bad trip? In a sense, well, yes. The Kafkaesque scenes of hallucinations were the result of a visit to the local bakery gone horribly wrong. Remember that perfectly baked French baguette? It turns out, under specific circumstances, it can spawn mass psychosis.”

Fascinating and well written isn’t it? I highly recommend this book if you are interested in this topic. It will be released November 9, 2021, and can be purchased in advance from numerous booksellers.

Thank you publisher Workman Publishing Company and NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy of this manuscript and for allowing me to review it.

From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us.

Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a particular disease or virus—smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, HIV—that combine “Patient Zero” narratives, or the human stories behind outbreaks, with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more.

Learn the tragic stories of Patient Zeros throughout history, such as Mabalo Lokela, who contracted Ebola while on vacation in 1976, and the Lewis Baby on London’s Broad Street, the first to catch cholera in an 1854 outbreak that led to a major medical breakthrough. Interspersed are origin stories of a different sort—how a rye fungus in 1951 turned a small village in France into a phantasmagoric scene reminiscent of Burning Man. Plus the uneasy history of human autopsy, how the HIV virus has been with us for at least a century, and more. Amazing fantastic read and one I highly recommend just wish it was downloadable to kindle.

As a doctor who (very briefly) considered Infectious Diseases as a career, I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Part history lesson, part political and sociological discussion and part symptomatology, it was not overly technical, and pitched at a level non-medical professionals would enjoy. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Ebola, HIV, the plague and leprosy. Pictures enhanced the discussion (not overly gruesome for the average individual), and the writing was not overly pedantic or technical. The book was a great read for any individual interested in infectious diseases and the general progression of pandemics, especially given the current world issues.

I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review from myself.

A fun and silly look into medical history for the whole family! This book is great for history lovers, fact hounds, trivia nerds, or anyone looking for a laugh.

Fascinating, icky, timely, and completely absorbing. I couldn’t put it down! Maybe not for the squeamish, but I already miss it. Can’t wait to read more by the authors.
Thanks NetGalley!