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Paul Farmer provides an excellent assessment of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. It was especially hilarious given that it was released during the Covid epidemic.

I previously read a fascinating book about the 2014 Ebola outbreak from a physician, but this one goes deeper. Farmer starts with that event then goes deeper into the past to show how Sierra Leone and Liberia came to be health care deserts via colonialism. You then comes forward again to show how radically different things could be with just basic supportive care. Terrific and sobering.

Listening to this 22 hr audiobook is an investment but one that pays dividends. Farmer, a doctor on the frontlines of the 2014 Ebola crisis, writes about the history of Sierra Leone and Liberia from the slave trade and founding of these countries to the current politics and extractive trading. He explains why these countries are healthcare deserts from a historical perspective and gives ideas how we can better prepare for the next health crisis.

So you may have noticed I haven‘t written an audiobook review in awhile. I‘m still listening to them, but I‘m not enjoying it as much. With all the aides coming and going, I rarely get uninterrupted listening time anymore. However, I decided to leap into a super-long (22 hour) one about the 2013-15 Ebola outbreak and an sociological history of those countries, and I‘m really enjoying it! It‘s a bit slow going, but maybe I‘ll love audio again!

Over generations, the gene pool of the first farmers became increasingly dominated by individuals who could drink beer on a regular basis. Most of the world‘s population today is made up of descendants of those early beer drinkers, and we have largely inherited their genetic tolerance for alcohol.🍻🍺

#quotes

Reading Patient Zero while sitting in the ER waiting room with a friend. Perhaps a little too perfect that I'd just picked up this to read

While Merlin Sheldrake's book Entangled Life highlighted the many amazing aspects of fungi, this book focuses on the threat posed when they are introduced into new environments & hosts with no resistance. The results can be devastating, as in the case of the American chestnut, bats wiped out by white-nose syndrome, or monoculture bananas. The author highlights the crucial importance of genetic diversity and recognition of our interconnected world.

Eh. This was just okay for me personally. She lays out fears of coming fungal pandemics to Earth‘s living things due to global warming. A lot of the book was about plant biology, which I don‘t find as interesting as animals/humans. I did like her info about white nose syndrome in bats and hard-to-treat ear yeast infections in humans. I think someone more interested in plants would enjoy this more. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Y'all this book sucked me in! I'm trying to do better about my #nonfiction reading and this book focuses on the cholera outbreak in London. This was a fascinating read part medical thriller part medical mystery and well paced. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I was about 12 years old when I read Outbreak by Robin Cook, the book that started my curiosity about the Ebola virus. I am 41 years old and still cannot stop myself from reading books of any sort related to the virus.