Madeline Drexler

332 pages, 6 x 9, 2002.

 

Joseph Henry Press (JHP)
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Watch Madeline Drexler discuss SECRET AGENTS, during her February 20th appearance on CBS' THE EARLY SHOW.

 

International Price


So you think modern medicine has the whole virus game figured out? Think again. And it’s not even a question of “if” we’ll be hit by some new and deadly disease—it’s “when.”

The war on germs is being fought on many fronts—from the skirmishes with disease-carrying mosquitoes that cross oceans hidden away in airline wheel wells to the high-profile battle against terrorists wielding deadly bioweapons. Today’s bold headlines would have us believe that the biggest threat comes from bioterrorism. But don’t underestimate Mother Nature, perhaps the most savage bioterrorist of all. Assisted by the increasing ease with which people—and the germs they carry—move across international borders, she’s an effective force to be reckoned with, a key player on this battlefield. As author Madeline Drexler makes clear, we’d do best not to ignore her.

Human beings and the pathogens that attack them are crossing paths more and more frequently, particularly as modern life grows increasingly complex. Whatever the infectious agent may be, whether it’s pandemic flu, foodborne illness, a debilitating disease carried far and wide by biting insects, or some new microbial horror we have yet to detect, keen surveillance and rapid response are really the only weapons in our arsenal.

Secret Agents looks at today’s new and emerging infections—those that have increased in attack rate or geographic range, or threaten to do so—and tells the stories of scientists racing to catch up with invisible adversaries superior in both speed and guile. Each chapter focuses on a different threat: foodborne pathogens, antibiotic resistance, animals and insectborne diseases, pandemic influenza, infectious causes of chronic disease, and bioterrorism, including the latest information on the public health threats posed by anthrax and diseases such as smallpox.

Based in part on material collected from the Forum on Emerging Infections hosted by the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C., Secret Agents is ultimately as engaging as it is disturbing. Drexler’s thorough survey of the field of infectious disease, supplemented by extensive interviews with today’s top researchers, yields a compelling portrait of a world engaged in a clandestine war.

Emerging infections are among the many secret ties that bind the world into an organic whole. We know that infectious disease is an inescapable part of life, but we need to begin thinking globally and acting locally if we are to avoid the menace of a catastrophic outbreak of some new plague. Secret Agents sounds a clear and compelling call to take up arms against the organic predators among us.



"...an authoritative, well-paced, vividly written book that will scare the pants off you. It's so up-to-date it includes even the recent anthrax attacks... All in all, Drexler has produced a fascinating book that everyone (except perhaps serious hypochondriacs) ought to read."
-- The New York Times Book Review, February 17, 2002

"...Drexler's gripping book is an especially readable account of the dangerous common ground where man and microbes meet. Richly researched and written in simple, conversational language..."
-- USA Today, February 18, 2002

"...a lively and well-researched story. ... Drexler provides a well-organized and detailed account of several major outbreaks of infectious diseases (predominantly in the United States) and the issues associated with them."
-- Science, February 22, 2002

"In a volume written for the educated layman, Drexler does an admirable job of explaining the threats from our food supply, the overuse of antibiotics, exotic viruses such as Ebola, the woeful state of the world's public-health systems and bioterrorism. ... Drexler is a clear and concise writer who avoids sensationalism despite the nature of the subject. She is particularly good at drawing little portraits of the book's heroes, the scientists and medical workers who track and battle the new diseases."
-- Cleveland Plain-Dealer, February 10, 2002

"...engrossing overview... Drexler is skilled at making the biology of pathogens accessible to general readers. ...as bioterrorism (which Drexler addresses) becomes a growing threat, her calls for funding public health organizations and global disease-fighting coalitions are worth reiterating."
-- Publishers Weekly, February 4, 2002

"A highly compelling narrative."
-- Thomas Inglesby, M.D., Deputy Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies

"Secret Agents skillfully captures the frontline experience in the battle between humans and deadly, ever-changing microbes. This book is hard to put down."
-- Michael Osterholm, Ph.D., Director, University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and co-author of Living Terrors

"Like a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, Secret Agents is a panorama teeming with miniatures that make the blood run cold. An authoritative book for an anxious age."
-- Patricia Thomas, author of Big Shot: Passion, Politics, and the Struggle for an AIDS Vaccine

"Madeline Drexler stuns the reader, and rightly so, in this superbly written and alarming book."
-- James Woolsey, former Director, Central Intelligence Agency, attorney at law

"Drexler tells the real story behind public health investigations -- a story of difficult characters, lapses in cooperation, and ugly turf battles. A valuable exposé."
-- Frederick A. Murphy, D.V.M, Ph.D, former Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, co-discoverer of the Ebola virus

"An extraordinarily timely book that provides a wealth of information."
-- James M. Hughes, M.D., Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


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Madeline Drexler is a science and medical journalist based in Boston. A former medical columnist for The Boston Globe Magazine, she was a 1996 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Drexler was also awarded the 1992 International Biomedical Science Journalism Prize by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Self, Good Housekeeping, The American Prospect, and many other national publications.