# 2980
Last month Philip Alcabes,a professor of urban public health at Hunter College of the City University of New York, had an editorial piece published in the Washington Post (and subsequently several other papers) which called into question how (and why) we prepare for a pandemic.
This contrarian editorial was published in advance of a book the professor has written, entitled :Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to the Avian Flu.
A number of bloggers took exception to Professor Alcabes’ editorial (see my posts here and here), the Revere’s post (see Something to fear from fear of fear [updated]), along with several by Crof (including this).
Professor Alcabes has provided Crawford Kilian of Crofsblog with a review copy of his book, and Crof treats us to a preview of the book.
This `pre-review’ (a more comprehensive review will likely follow in The Tyee, of which Crof is an editor), gives us a far better idea of what the professor is espousing.
As Crof puts it: `You don't have to agree with everything that Alcabes says, but it will probably do you good to look at H5N1 from his perspective.’
Crof also has details (see Bandung: Father-son H5N1 suspect patients are recovering) overnight of the `recovery’ of several bird flu suspects in Bandung, Indonesia that local media sources had reported on.
Tests are still pending, but their rapid recovery and release from the hospital argues against them having been infected with the virus.
