Deception Point by Dan Brown

Deception Point by Dan Brown

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.

Dan Brown has practiced design and product commercialization for 30 years, first in industry and for the last 15 years as a consultant, inventor, and entrepreneur.

Dan's credentials include attaining a master's degree in product development from Northwestern, over 30 U.S. utility patents, and numerous international design and innovation awards. He is the founder and president of LoggerHead Tools and a principal at Consul-Tech Concepts.

Dan is Clinical Associate Professor, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University.

Lisa Del Torto teaches expository writing, freshman seminars, and the Design Thinking and Communication (DTC) sequence at the Segal Design Institute, Northwestern University. Drawing on her training in sociolinguistics and methods of ethnography and conversation analysis, Lisa's research focuses on language and identity, language contact, multilingual family interaction, and English language learning.