Beasts of the Earth: Animals, Humans, and Disease

In this slim volume, Torrey (Stanley Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland) and Yolken (director, Stanley Laborator of Developmental Neurovirology, pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) have written a history for the non-specialist that tells of the long connection between animal-carried diseases and humans, including salmonella, H5N1 bird flu, Lyme disease, and the plague. Filled with disturbing facts and statistics, the account includes descriptions of each illness, its o...