We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
Deadly River: Cholera and Cover-Up in Post-Earthquake Haiti (The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work)
Share Tweet
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About Deadly River: Cholera And Cover-Up In
Product Description In October 2010, nine months after the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti, a second disaster began to unfold―soon to become the world’s largest cholera epidemic in modern times. In a country that had never before reported cholera, the epidemic mysteriously and simultaneously appeared in river communities of central Haiti, eventually triggering nearly 800,000 cases and 9,000 deaths. What had caused the first cases of cholera in Haiti in recorded history? Who or what was the deadly agent of origin? Why did it explode in the agricultural-rich delta of the Artibonite River? When answers were few, rumors spread, causing social and political consequences of their own. Wanting insight, the Haitian government and French embassy requested epidemiological assistance from France. A few weeks into the epidemic, physician and infectious disease specialist Renaud Piarroux arrived in Haiti. In Deadly River, Ralph R. Frerichs tells the story of the epidemic, of a French disease detective determined to trace its origins so that he could help contain the spread and possibly eliminate the disease, and the political intrigue that has made that effort so difficult. The story involves political maneuvering by powerful organizations such as the United Nations and its peacekeeping troops in Haiti, as well as by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Frerichs explores a quest for scientific truth and dissects a scientific disagreement involving world-renowned cholera experts who find themselves embroiled in intellectual and political turmoil in a poverty-stricken country. Frerichs’s narrative highlights how the world’s wealthy nations, nongovernmental agencies, and international institutions respond when their interests clash with the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people. The story poses big social questions and offers insights not only on how to eliminate cholera in Haiti but also how nations, NGOs, and international organizations such as the UN and CDC deal with catastrophic infectious disease epidemics. About the Author Ralph R. Frerichs is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at UCLA. Review "Deadly River tells two fascinating stories. One is about epidemiological and molecular biology detective work. This work justified the growing certainty that defective United Nations procedures had allowed Nepalese peacekeepers to start a devastating cholera epidemic in Haiti. The second story is about how the UN, the WHO, elements of the Haitian government, and the CDC did their best to prevent these facts from coming to light. They told themselves that they did this to serve what they thought was the greater public good. They pushed forward scientists with an academic ax to grind who had theories congenial to their agenda. We are used to industrial interests 'manufacturing doubt' about ‘inconvenient truths.’ This second story shows that governments do it as well." -- Dr. Raymond Richard Neutra, retired chief of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control, California Department of Public Health Review "Frerichs, a retired epidemiologist and professor emeritus of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, has written a damning account of the political and health professional response to the cholera epidemic that broke out in Haiti in October 2010... He does so from an epidemiologist’s perspective and with a clear focus on the Haiti case. Yet, his account is written for and accessible to a wider readership and also highly relevant for students of global (health) politics." -- Tine Hanrieder, Dr rer pol, University of Bremen, Cambridge Review of International Affairs Review "Ralph Frerichs’s Deadly River is, in no small part, an object lesson on the manner in which maps make sense of chaos in the midst of complex world events.... Frerichs’s focus, and indeed his passion, lies with the microbial world and its periodic attacks on humankind.", cart
