2019年に発生し、世界で数百万人もの命を奪った新型コロナウイルス感染症の大流行は、人類に感染症の怖さを再認識させました。この改訂新版はペスト、結核、マラリア、天然痘、コレラ、インフルエンザ、HIV/AIDS等の疾病の生物学的特性が、パンデミックの発生にどのような影響を与えたかを明らかにします。また、検疫などの国家による社会的統制、パンデミックを契機とした公衆衛生の台頭と医学の爆発的な進展にも重点を置いて解説し、貧困との関係や伝染病の地理的特徴の評価を通じ、各国が過去の経験から学び、予防に向けて積極的に協力する必要性を示唆しています。
   

• Introduces non-biologist academics to the field of epidemiology
• Places infectious diseases in the context of ecology and evolution
• Traces transmission pathways through ecological and sociopolitical factors

New to this Edition:

• Contains a new chapter devoted to COVID-19
• Every chapter updated with new information
• 'Looking ahead' brought up to date with information on 2015-16 Zika epidemic
• Updated References and Future Reading sections

  
Infectious disease is a moving target: new diseases emerge every year, old diseases evolve into new forms, and ecological and socioeconomic upheavals change the transmission pathways that spread disease. But where does disease come from? How is it transmitted from one person to another? And why are some individuals more susceptible than others?
   
In this Very Short Introduction, Marta Wayne and Benjamin Bolker address these questions through the lenses of ecology and evolution. Assessing the management of outbreaks of diseases such as influenza, HIV/AIDS, cholera, and COVID-19, they provide specific examples to illustrate why major diseases still threaten populations all over the world.