For anyone wondering what steps to take in these challenging times, this basic primer separates fact from fiction and presents the essential information you need to keep you safe, informed, and prepared for tomorrow. Pandemics are infectious diseases that cross international boundaries and spread out of control. How societies respond to them determines the magnitude of morbidity, mortality, and economic shock that could plague them.

They cannot be eliminated, but they can be stopped; the trick is discovering what will curtail any one particular outbreak. Renowned environmentalist and science writer Albert Bates presents an easy-to-understand scientific overview of the global consequences of pandemics and offers a fresh perspective on how we can coexist with them, individually and collectively.

Bates recounts the history of deadly pandemics and provides a basic explanation for why diseases can infect and spread quickly, as well as how viruses invade the body and travel from host to