We found that there is not a huge difference between this and the previous edition, which was published in 1995. Among the new entries are
Angolan poliomyelitis epidemic of 1999,
British "mad cow" disease outbreak,
Ugandan Ebola outbreak of 2000, and
U.S. West Nile virus outbreak. Also new is an appendix listing entries by disease, a helpful addition given the somewhat idiosyncratic entry headings. This is a useful resource for high-school and public libraries, especially given recent events. However, because the focus is historical rather than scientific, libraries that own the first edition may not need to update.
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Synopsis
Tracing the history of infectious diseases from the Philistine plague of eleventh century B.C. to the recent "Mad Cow" disease scare, the Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence, Revised Edition remains the only single-volume, A-to-Z reference offering comprehensive international coverage of the subject. This volume provides concise descriptions of more than 700 epidemics, listed alphabetically by location of the outbreak. Each detailed entry includes when and where a particular epidemic began, how and why it happened, who it, affected, how it spread and ran its course, and its outcome and significance. New features include a foreword written by an expert on infectious diseases, and updated indexes and appendixes, including a new appendix listing the entries alphabetically by disease.