Synopsis
In the mid-seventies, Guido van der Groen and his colleagues at the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp discovered the deadly virus Ebola. Forty years later, the virus breaks out again in West-Africa. Why is this virus seemingly unstoppable? Could the epidemic have been prevented? Do we have to fear an unprecedented pandemic? To answer these questions, Guido van der Groen, an internationally renowned virus fighter, goes back to where it all began. As a virus fighter, he dedicated the rest of his career to the study of Ebola, HIV and other viruses.
Van der Groen puts this unprecedented manifestation of Ebola into an international health management perspective, lifting his book on the geopolitical shelf as well. The result is an exciting read, which makes critical observations about the present pandemic psychoses and which urges authorities to invest in durable solutions.
Prof. Dr. Guido van der Groen is emeritus professor in Virology and former head of the department of Microbiology at the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.