How did it start? Why did it spread? How do we stop it? Packed with one thrilling medical mystery after another, Patient Zero tells the curious story of 21 of the world's worst diseases-including smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, AIDS-by combining Patient Zero narratives with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more. Discover the tragic story of Zaire schoolteacher Mabalo Lokela, whose relaxing vacation resulted in him becoming Patient Zero of Ebola virus disease. How a rye fungus in 1951 turned a small village in France into a phantasmagoric scene reminiscent of Burning Man. And what the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic has to teach us about Covid-19. (Guess what: There was an anti-mask movement back then, too)

PATIENT ZERO: A Curious History of the World's Most Deadly Diseases Table of Contents Introduction Part I: INFECTION Patient Zero: Ergotism Zoonoses: Making the Leap Patient Zero: Ebola Germ Theory: From Miasma to Microscopes Patient Zero: Plague Autopsy: From Humoral Theory to Grave Robbing Patient Zero: Hep C Anatomy of an Outbreak Patient Zero: Covid-19 Quackery Cures Patient Zero: Yellow Fever Patient Zero: Mad Cow Disease Part II: SPREAD Patient Zero: HIV Patient Zero: Typhus Leprosy Patient Zero: Typhoid Mary Indigenous Peoples & the Columbian Exchange: The "Exchange" Was Not Equal Patient Zero: Syphilis Crypto Outbreak Patient Zero: Measles Part 3: CONTAINMENT Patient Zero: 1918 Influenza Vaccines: From Variolation to Messenger RNA Patient Zero: Polio Cancer-Disease Link Patient Zero: Cholera Anthrax & Biological Warfare: The Weaponization of Disease Patient Zero: Rabies Tuberculosis Patient Zero: Last Smallpox case Medical Advancements Acknowledgments Index Credits About the Authors