China Syndrome

The True Story of the 21st Century's First Great Epidemic

By: Karl Taro Greenfeld

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eBook | 17 February 2009

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464 Pages

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"China Syndrome is a fast-moving,
truth-is-stranger-than-fiction thriller that doubles as an excellent primer of
emerging infections for scientists and laypeople alike. But that's not all. For
readers more captivated by world politics than by microbiology, its chief
strength, beyond the superb writing, is a detailed look at China's culture of
secrecy in the throes of a global public health crisis." — Los Angeles Times

When
the SARS virus broke out in China in January 2003, Karl Taro Greenfeld was the
editor of Time Asia in Hong
Kong, just a few miles from the epicenter of the outbreak. After vague, initial
reports of terrified Chinese boiling vinegar to "purify" the air, Greenfeld and
his staff soon found themselves immersed in the story of a lifetime.

Deftly
tracking a mysterious viral killer from the bedside of one of the first victims
to China's overwhelmed hospital wards—from cutting-edge labs where researchers
struggle to identify the virus to the war rooms at the World Health
Organization headquarters in Geneva—C**hina
Syndrome takes readers on a gripping ride that blows through the
Chinese government's effort to cover up the disease . . . and sounds a clarion
call warning of a catastrophe to come: a great viral storm potentially more
deadly than any respiratory disease since the influenza of 1918.

Industry Reviews

"A compelling writer...China Syndrome echoes the sort of gritty, breathless thriller pace that Richard Preston employed 10 years ago in The Hot Zone."