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Virus Hunters: How Science Protects People When Outbreaks and Pandemics Strike
A nonfiction look at the elite squads of scientists, doctors, and infectious disease experts who guard the boundary between public health and pandemics and how they gather data via boots on the ground “shoe-leather epidemiology” in order to save lives.
Picture a detective. What comes to mind? A fast-talking private eye, interrogating a suspect? Or Sherlock Holmes, in his deerstalker hat, discovering clues to catch a killer?
Now imagine that the suspect isn’t a person but a microscopic menace—a deadly virus or bacteria making people sick. What kind of detective does it take to nab a biological assassin, invisible to the naked eye?
Just like detectives, epidemiologists—scientists who study how diseases emerge and spread—interview witnesses and gather clues to identify the cause of illness, locate those who are sick, and uncover the sources of outbreaks to stop them in their tracks.
From a quickly spreading cholera outbreak in 1880s London, to a mystery illness in New Mexico that stumped investigators, to the development of the vaccines to fight COVID-19 and more, join author Amy Cherrix on a journey to explore the past, present, and future of virus hunting as the world’s greatest disease detectives race to crack the medical codes that lead to cures.
Picture a detective. What comes to mind? A fast-talking private eye, interrogating a suspect? Or Sherlock Holmes, in his deerstalker hat, discovering clues to catch a killer?
Now imagine that the suspect isn’t a person but a microscopic menace—a deadly virus or bacteria making people sick. What kind of detective does it take to nab a biological assassin, invisible to the naked eye?
Just like detectives, epidemiologists—scientists who study how diseases emerge and spread—interview witnesses and gather clues to identify the cause of illness, locate those who are sick, and uncover the sources of outbreaks to stop them in their tracks.
From a quickly spreading cholera outbreak in 1880s London, to a mystery illness in New Mexico that stumped investigators, to the development of the vaccines to fight COVID-19 and more, join author Amy Cherrix on a journey to explore the past, present, and future of virus hunting as the world’s greatest disease detectives race to crack the medical codes that lead to cures.
328 pages, Hardcover
Published September 10, 2024
4 people are currently reading
2710 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 7, 2026
Cherrix takes readers on a journey through time to meet key epidemiologists, doctors, and scientists who have helped fight pandemics throughout history. There are sections on a hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico in the late 20th century, John Snow and Cholera, 20th century efforts to create a vaccine for the 1918 flu should it or something similar rise again, the mission to eradicate smallpox and how it succeeded, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and how activists helped streamline the road to testing treatments with the help of a key scientists in the CDC, and finally, the scientists who first started experimenting with mRNA as a delivery apparatus for vaccines and how this uncelebrated discovery soon became critical during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I found several of these sections extremely fascinating, like mystery of what was killing people in New Mexico and how they narrowed it down to hantavirus and the hunt for viable 1918 flu viruses and how scientists eventually successfully found some. I can also see this be a good read for those who want to better understand covid, and why it took the time it did to create a vaccine (though the HIV/AIDs section before that reveals how without changes during that time, the covid vaccine would have taken even longer to produce). I did feel like the HIV/AIDs section was a little bit imbalanced in how it focused on the activist group that campaigned for a quicker process from drug trials to getting it in the hands of people who needed it and had less information on the scientists researching how to treat it. While the social part is important, I wanted a bit more on the scientific research part too, which the rest of the sections in the book do a good job of providing. Hand this to science nerds, and readers interested in epidemiology or who are looking for a slightly different medical career path and want inspiration.
Notes on content:
Language: None that I remember.
Sexual content: None
Violence: Deaths from viruses are mentioned throughout. Sobering and scientific descriptions, but not gory or lurid ones. World War I is briefly talked about in the 1918 flu section. Violence interrupting peaceful protests are mentioned in the HIV/AIDs section.
Ethnic diversity: The book highlights people in Native American tribes in New Mexico, people in Africa, India, and Bangladesh in the smallpox section, people in England in the cholera section, an Inuit tribe in the 1918 flu section, Chinese and Black & white American scientists plus a Hungarian refugee in the covid section.
LGBTQ+ content: The HIV/AIDs chapter talks about how the virus was first assumed to exist only among homosexual males and stereotypes about the virus arose. (The book clarifies that many others are infected from a variety of walks of life.) One of the activist group leaders Cherrix interviewed for this section is a homosexual man.
Other: One of the smallpox scientists had to weigh whether to follow protocol to the letter or move quickly and break protocol to stop further spread of the virus. The author mentions how names of viruses can have negative connotations if associated with a people group or area. Racism against Asian Americans that happened during covid is mentioned. Prejudice is mentioned in the HIV section.
I found several of these sections extremely fascinating, like mystery of what was killing people in New Mexico and how they narrowed it down to hantavirus and the hunt for viable 1918 flu viruses and how scientists eventually successfully found some. I can also see this be a good read for those who want to better understand covid, and why it took the time it did to create a vaccine (though the HIV/AIDs section before that reveals how without changes during that time, the covid vaccine would have taken even longer to produce). I did feel like the HIV/AIDs section was a little bit imbalanced in how it focused on the activist group that campaigned for a quicker process from drug trials to getting it in the hands of people who needed it and had less information on the scientists researching how to treat it. While the social part is important, I wanted a bit more on the scientific research part too, which the rest of the sections in the book do a good job of providing. Hand this to science nerds, and readers interested in epidemiology or who are looking for a slightly different medical career path and want inspiration.
Notes on content:
Language: None that I remember.
Sexual content: None
Violence: Deaths from viruses are mentioned throughout. Sobering and scientific descriptions, but not gory or lurid ones. World War I is briefly talked about in the 1918 flu section. Violence interrupting peaceful protests are mentioned in the HIV/AIDs section.
Ethnic diversity: The book highlights people in Native American tribes in New Mexico, people in Africa, India, and Bangladesh in the smallpox section, people in England in the cholera section, an Inuit tribe in the 1918 flu section, Chinese and Black & white American scientists plus a Hungarian refugee in the covid section.
LGBTQ+ content: The HIV/AIDs chapter talks about how the virus was first assumed to exist only among homosexual males and stereotypes about the virus arose. (The book clarifies that many others are infected from a variety of walks of life.) One of the activist group leaders Cherrix interviewed for this section is a homosexual man.
Other: One of the smallpox scientists had to weigh whether to follow protocol to the letter or move quickly and break protocol to stop further spread of the virus. The author mentions how names of viruses can have negative connotations if associated with a people group or area. Racism against Asian Americans that happened during covid is mentioned. Prejudice is mentioned in the HIV section.
January 4, 2025
Cherrix weaves six true stories of mysterious outbreaks of diseases that is sure to have middle grade kids craving more.
In a very clinical, methodical manner, she details the hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico in 1993, Dr. John Snow’s “detective” search for how cholera was transmitted, the research methodology of the 1918 fly pandemic by 2 doctors that started in 1951 and was completed in 1997, the worldwide eradication of smallpox by doctors dedicated enough to ensure it is not a threat today, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s novel approach to finding a care for HIV/AIDS, and how the first use of mRNA technology helped stop Covid-19. Each case stresses who experienced the disease, what the effects of it were, the means it was transmitted, and how scientists were able to piece together a solution.
Cherrix lays all of the pieces of the puzzle for each disease in place with care and empathy for the subjects who suffered from each disease. She sets just the right tone for this topic. Readers will feel her empathy for the people affected and her admiration of the scientists involved. The text is illustrated with period captioned photographs. Short chapters make this a breezy read. Explanations of what could be confusing topics are clear and included within the text. Though she makes liberal use of acronyms, she is always careful to spell it out with the acronym in parenthesis initially. The book opens with a prologue to set up the doctors and researchers of diseases as “detectives” and ends with her experience at the CDC’s Museum’s Disease Detective Camp. An impressive resources list, footnotes, and index complete the backmatter.
This reads like a short story collection of medical mysteries that fans of Gail Jarrow will savor.
Highly Recommended for grades 7-12.
S.B.
Children's Literature Consultant
In a very clinical, methodical manner, she details the hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico in 1993, Dr. John Snow’s “detective” search for how cholera was transmitted, the research methodology of the 1918 fly pandemic by 2 doctors that started in 1951 and was completed in 1997, the worldwide eradication of smallpox by doctors dedicated enough to ensure it is not a threat today, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s novel approach to finding a care for HIV/AIDS, and how the first use of mRNA technology helped stop Covid-19. Each case stresses who experienced the disease, what the effects of it were, the means it was transmitted, and how scientists were able to piece together a solution.
Cherrix lays all of the pieces of the puzzle for each disease in place with care and empathy for the subjects who suffered from each disease. She sets just the right tone for this topic. Readers will feel her empathy for the people affected and her admiration of the scientists involved. The text is illustrated with period captioned photographs. Short chapters make this a breezy read. Explanations of what could be confusing topics are clear and included within the text. Though she makes liberal use of acronyms, she is always careful to spell it out with the acronym in parenthesis initially. The book opens with a prologue to set up the doctors and researchers of diseases as “detectives” and ends with her experience at the CDC’s Museum’s Disease Detective Camp. An impressive resources list, footnotes, and index complete the backmatter.
This reads like a short story collection of medical mysteries that fans of Gail Jarrow will savor.
Highly Recommended for grades 7-12.
S.B.
Children's Literature Consultant
November 1, 2024
This reads like a short story collection of medical mysteries that fans of Gail Jarrow will savor.
Cherrix weaves six true stories of mysterious outbreaks of diseases that is sure to have middle grade kids craving more. In a very clinical, methodical manner, she details the hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico in 1993, Dr. John Snow’s “detective” search for how cholera was transmitted, the research methodology of the 1918 fly pandemic by 2 doctors that started in 1951 and was completed in 1997, the worldwide eradication of smallpox by doctors dedicated enough to ensure it is not a threat today, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s novel approach to finding a care for HIV/AIDS, and how the first use of mRNA technology helped stop Covid-19. Each case stresses who experienced the disease, what the effects of it were, the means it was transmitted, and how scientists were able to piece together a solution.
Cherrix lays all of the pieces of the puzzle for each disease in place with care and empathy for the subjects who suffered from each disease. She sets just the right tone for this topic. Readers will feel her empathy for the people affected and her admiration of the scientists involved. The text is illustrated with period captioned photographs. Short chapters make this a breezy read. Explanations of what could be confusing topics are clear and included within the text. Though she makes liberal use of acronyms, she is always careful to spell it out with the acronym in parenthesis initially. The book opens with a prologue to set up the doctors and researchers of diseases as “detectives” and ends with her experience at the CDC’s Museum’s Disease Detective Camp. An impressive resources list, footnotes, and index complete the backmatter.
Highly Recommended for grades 7-12.
Cherrix weaves six true stories of mysterious outbreaks of diseases that is sure to have middle grade kids craving more. In a very clinical, methodical manner, she details the hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico in 1993, Dr. John Snow’s “detective” search for how cholera was transmitted, the research methodology of the 1918 fly pandemic by 2 doctors that started in 1951 and was completed in 1997, the worldwide eradication of smallpox by doctors dedicated enough to ensure it is not a threat today, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s novel approach to finding a care for HIV/AIDS, and how the first use of mRNA technology helped stop Covid-19. Each case stresses who experienced the disease, what the effects of it were, the means it was transmitted, and how scientists were able to piece together a solution.
Cherrix lays all of the pieces of the puzzle for each disease in place with care and empathy for the subjects who suffered from each disease. She sets just the right tone for this topic. Readers will feel her empathy for the people affected and her admiration of the scientists involved. The text is illustrated with period captioned photographs. Short chapters make this a breezy read. Explanations of what could be confusing topics are clear and included within the text. Though she makes liberal use of acronyms, she is always careful to spell it out with the acronym in parenthesis initially. The book opens with a prologue to set up the doctors and researchers of diseases as “detectives” and ends with her experience at the CDC’s Museum’s Disease Detective Camp. An impressive resources list, footnotes, and index complete the backmatter.
Highly Recommended for grades 7-12.
February 2, 2025
I was more interested in the chapters more focused on finding the cause of epidemics (cholera, hantavirus). I would have loved a book only focused on that topic, though having a middle grade text that introduces the eradication of polio via mass vaccination seems especially important right now with rising vaccine skepticism. The chapters on AIDS activists and their role in advancing the work on treatments for it was insightful and would likely be surprising to kids who are now growing up with that disease as non-lethal in the US. Great background on mRNA vaccines in the COVID chapters that explained how they work and the lengthy process for vaccine approval - also relevant to read in today’s climate of unwarranted uncertainty about vaccines.
January 16, 2026
This is a wonderful, well-researched book. I have to admit I wasn’t sure how interesting it would be before I opened the book, BUT I was delighted to find it not only fascinating, but extremely accessible. The short chapters have photographs that draw you in and place you into each true topic. Reading this gave me real insight, along with much admiration and appreciation for the many scientists who work on solving the mysteries of sudden virus outbreaks. They are truly unsung heroes. And it was exciting to learn there are groups of teens who attend Disease Detective Camp each year, ready to continue the work of those who came before them. In particular, this would be a great choice for school and public libraries!
December 12, 2024
This short book isn't, and can't be, entirely comprehensvie--Cherrix is tackling a huge subject. But it is clearly written and very well researched, and young science fans will learn a lot from it. I wish Cherrix had mentioned Ozlem Turici, Ugur Sahin's wife, who founded Biontech with him. It would have been easy to simply include her name. And this is why I'm knocking off a star.
However, there is so much good information here. A necessary book for every Junior High and High School library.
However, there is so much good information here. A necessary book for every Junior High and High School library.
February 25, 2025
This book perfectly blends scientific principles and accessibility to the reader who may not have a strong science background. The behind-scenes work these scientists, researchers, doctors, etc perform is astounding. It covers several of the most serious endemics/pandemics of the 20th and 21st century, including COVID-19, and breaks down the meticulous process of identifying and treating these illnesses. Definitely geared to a middle school/high school reader. Fascinating book!
June 5, 2024
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
This is a must have for high school collections, or middle school ones where there are a lot of science based projects. It was a lot of information on many aspects of the scientific process, and had gripping stories of scientists who persevered against a lot of obstacles.
This is a must have for high school collections, or middle school ones where there are a lot of science based projects. It was a lot of information on many aspects of the scientific process, and had gripping stories of scientists who persevered against a lot of obstacles.
October 11, 2024
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. The book has short chapters, keeping focus of one point the author is making. She explains the STEM concepts that go with working with medicine to were even a middle schooler can understand; which it is good because I work in a middle school. There was no overload of hard to understand science. I really did enjoy the book.
February 3, 2025
Geared towards middle school readers, this is a well-written look into virus detectives - including Jay Butler, John Snow, Johan Hultin (1918 flu), Neil Vora (smallpox), Anthony Fauci (AIDS), and Katalin Kariko (COVID-10) - was really engaging and informative.
November 11, 2025
When the world finally eradicated the measles virus but then the u.s said NUH-Uhhhh. So now the measles virus is back thanks AV’s
February 19, 2026
4.5 stars
February 28, 2026
This is a simplistic gee-whiz "Microbe Hunters" type of book, but it gets basic facts wrong, like the John Snow cholera story (? Snow convinced the board about the pump and that's how the outbreak stopped...).
August 11, 2024
Engrossing timeline of pandemics and epidemics chronicling the diseases, consequences, and influential people involved with trying to quell the outbreak. Incredibly readable with intriguing details and shocking information. The layout and language allow for a non-threatening and enjoyable upper middle school read. Cherri’s is becoming one of my “go to” nonfiction authors.
December 12, 2025
Epidemiology basics and stats.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews