This book is a fascinating glimpse into the public health system, both nationally and internationally. The author followed the newest epidemiology recruits at the CDC; she alternates their personal stories with chapters devoted to specific cases of disease detection, such as malaria, cholera, AIDS, small pox, SARS, anthrax, TB, and others. The book is written for the lay person, and is highly readable. In our global society, with avian flu on the horizon, the stories of this group of workers who are trained in early disease detection and containment will keep you reading!

The characters are many and all memorable.