Patient Zero

A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases

By: Lydia Kang MD MD, Nate Pedersen

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us.

Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a particular disease or virus—smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, HIV—that combine “Patient Zero” narratives, or the human stories behind outbreaks, with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more.

Learn the tragic stories of Patient Zeros throughout history, such as Mabalo Lokela, who contracted Ebola while on vacation in 1976, and the Lewis Baby on London’s Broad Street, the first to catch cholera in an 1854 outbreak that led to a major medical breakthrough. Interspersed are origin stories of a different sort—how a rye fungus in 1951 turned a small village in France into a phantasmagoric scene reminiscent of Burning Man. Plus the uneasy history of human autopsy, how the HIV virus has been with us for at least a century, and more.

Critic reviews

"[A] rich and thought-provoking book... It's also a profound reconsideration of our common understanding of our most famous stories of sickness and science."
—Salon.com

“A thorough and morbidly funny study of some of the world’s deadliest diseases… Readers will be swept away by this energetic and enlightening survey”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“If only my AP Bio textbook had been so fun. From Mad Cow to Monkeypox, here’s everything you wanted to know about the diseases you’re glad you don’t have. Hopefully!”
—Mo Rocca, author of Mobituaries

“Some of these stories read like gripping crime novels, some like Victorian tragedies, and some like futuristic thrillers. Patient Zero is essential and—dare I say it—entertaining reading.”
—Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist and Wicked Plants

“A fascinating foray into the etiology of fevers, flus, and other foul febrilities.”
—James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

“Patient Zero offers an encyclopedic presentation of historic outbreaks that tell fascinating and fast-moving tales of courage, tragedy, and loss (of life, of limbs, of freedom…of noses).”
—Dr. Brandy Schillace, author of Mr. Humbleand Dr. Butcher

“There is something here to astound even the most seasoned medical historian. I found myself utterly engrossed.”
—Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art

One of the best books I’ve ever read in the history of medicine I recommend it for anyone interested in medicine

Excellent book and very informative with smooth sequencing of the history
It should be read by every physician

Great history lesson

Well written and superbly narrated. The type of history you don’t hear about in school. I bing listened and will listen to it again.

Excellent Pop Science Book

For what it is, another popular science book on another very timely and VERY interesting subject, the book nails the mark. The narrator is excellent and the stories/histories of each of the relevant outbreaks is intriguing. Great book.

informative but many factual errors

I've enjoyed the other books by these authors and I appreciate their research, however they make a lot of errors and I'm not sure if it's the book or the nareator making them. For example, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was using microscopes in 1667, not 1767.

Pretty dry

It’s pretty good book. Had some interesting stuff but went on and on and on and on and on. Kind of dry. Some of the stuff was good, but I feel like this could’ve been a lot shorter or better.