51 pages 1 hour read

Laurie Garrett

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1994

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Essay Topics

1.

Consider the ongoing story of global public health in the years following the publication of The Coming Plague. Do you think that society heeded Garrett’s warnings? Why or why not?

2.

If Garrett were writing this book today, do you think any of its major elements would be different than they were in the mid-1990s?

3.

Garrett mentions many social factors that provide opportunities for epidemics to emerge and other factors that amplify its continued growth. Can you think of any other factors she didn’t mention but which might also serve to allow infectious diseases to spread?