The Truth About Contagion: Exploring Theories of How Disease Spreads

by Sally Fallon Morell

For readers of Plague of Corruption, Thomas S. Cowan, MD, and Sally Fallon Morell ask the are there really such things as "viruses"? Or are electro smog, toxic living conditions, and 5G actually to blame for COVID-19? The official explanation for today’s COVID-19 pandemic is a “dangerous, infectious virus.” This is the rationale for isolating a large portion of the world’s population in their homes so as to curb its spread.  From face masks to social distancing, from antivirals to vaccines, these measures are predicated on the assumption that tiny viruses can cause serious illness and that such illness is transmissible person-to-person. It was Louis Pasteur who convinced a skeptical medical community that contagious germs cause disease; his “germ theory” now serves as the official explanation for most illness. However, in his private diaries he states unequivocally that in his entire career he was not once able to transfer disease with a pure culture of bacteria (he obviously wasn’t able to purify viruses at that time). He admitted that the whole effort to prove contagion was a failure, leading to his famous death bed confession that “the germ is nothing, the terrain is everything.”  While the incidence and death statistics for COVID-19 may not be reliable, there is no question that many people have taken sick with a strange new disease—with odd symptoms like gasping for air and “fizzing” feelings—and hundreds of thousands have died. Many suspect that the cause is not viral but a kind of pollution unique to the modern age—electromagnetic pollution. Today we are surrounded by a jangle of overlapping and jarring frequencies—from power lines to the fridge to the cell phone. It started with the telegraph and progressed to worldwide electricity, then radar, then satellites that disrupt the ionosphere, then ubiquitous Wi-Fi. The most recent addition to this disturbing racket is fifth generation wireless—5G. In The Truth About Exploring Theories of How Disease Spreads, bestselling authors Thomas S. Cowan, MD, and Sally Fallon Morell explore the true causes of COVID-19. On September 26, 2019, 5G wireless was turned on in Wuhan, China (and officially launched November 1) with a grid of about ten thousand antennas—more antennas than exist in the whole United States, all concentrated in one city. A spike in cases occurred on February 13, the same week that Wuhan turned on its 5G network for monitoring traffic. Illness has subsequently followed 5G installation in all the major cities in America. Since the dawn of the human race, medicine men and physicians have wondered about the cause of disease, especially what we call “contagions,” numerous people ill with similar symptoms, all at the same time. Does humankind suffer these outbreaks at the hands of an angry god or evil spirit? A disturbance in the atmosphere, a miasma? Do we catch the illness from others or from some outside influence? As the restriction of our freedoms continues, more and more people are wondering whether this is true. Could a packet of RNA fragments, which cannot even be defined as a living organism, cause such havoc? Perhaps something else is involved—something that has upset the balance of nature and made us more susceptible to disease? Perhaps there is no “coronavirus” at all; perhaps, as Pasteur said, “the germ is nothing, the terrain is everything.” 

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Science, Medicine

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 22, 2021

About the author

Sally Fallon Morell is the co-founder and president of The Weston A. Price Foundation. According to the WAPF, she received a B.A. in English from Stanford University and an M.A. in English from UCLA.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

"The Truth About Contagion" appears to be the exact same book as "The Contagion Myth", published in 2020 and reportedly pulled by Amazon, which has made limited attempts to stop selling books that promote dangerous misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Whatever title is attached to the book, it's a bizarre ramble through germ theory denial and utterly nonsensical speculation about disease causation. Cowan, whose earlier books claimed that cancer is caused by a derangement of intracellular water (which makes about as much sense as Col. Jack D. Ripper's ravings about precious bodily fluids in "Dr. Strangelove"), that vaccines cause autoimmune disease (they don't) and that the heart is not a pump (huh?) here doubles down on the crazy by denying germ theory - in particular alleging that viruses don't cause disease, a belief that's as supportable as flat earth theory. The book even repeats the myth that Louis Pasteur renounced germ theory on his deathbed - a complete fabrication.

No, Doc Cowan (who was disciplined by his state medical board for improperly treating a cancer patient, prevented from providing cancer care for five years and later gave up his medical license) thinks that disease is caused by an "accumulation of electricity". In particular, he's gunning for 5G as the supposed real cause of the Covid-19 pandemic. This makes sense only if you're into weird conspiracy theories and willing to overlook a vast amount of good evidence validating the existence and pathogenicity of the novel coronavirus, and the ability of vaccines to prevent Covid-19 infection and illness.

If you're interested in how far off the rails a physician can go in rejecting rational, evidence-based medicine and espousing nuttery, "The Truth About Contagion" has a certain entertainment value. As a practical guide to warding off illness, it's a disaster.

Despite Cowan's expressed wish that this will be his last book, it's highly doubtful. Exploiting distrust of authority and experts, and milking the gullible with promises of Revealed Truth is way too profitable a business model to abandon.

[Kaetlyn Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly fascinating read until I got to the last chapter (5G and The Future of Humanity) which knocked my rating down significantly. The authors write "...God being a concept embracing the energetic field of the entire universe." God is not an energetic field. God is the Supreme Being. He has all authority and rules over all. The creator and sustainer of all the universe. He is perfect in power, goodness, and wisdom. The authors also write, in regards to 5G satellites in the ionosphere of the earth, "Life will be cut off from the cosmos, elk will no longer be elk, squirrels will have lost the energetic source that makes them squirrels, and human beings will no longer be formed as free individuals with their own unique destinies." This is entirely false and spiritual fear-mongering. When we recognize that we are dead in our trespasses and sin in the face of a Holy, Perfect God, and then repent of our sins and believe on Jesus Christ as Lord, NO ONE can pluck us from the Lord's hand. Not 5G, not the elites, not the new world order...NO One! Squirrels will remain squirrels and elk will remain elk because God is the creator and sustainer of those things. Yes, all of creation groans under sin and corruption but will one day be redeemed!

I lean toward terrain theory, love raw milk, and proudly wear a tinfoil hat most of the time, and absolutely believe 5G is a major threat, but none of these things surpass the power of my God who is alive, active, infinite, unchanging and personal. Believe on Him and your "unique destiny" will be spending eternity with Him.

[Cole Butler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly the most atrocious book I have ever read. Cowan jumps between half truths and blatant lies to weave a self contradictory narrative that disease as we know it is caused by electromagnetic frequencies, exosomes, and/or "resonant DNA."

He pins blame on any three of these causes whenever most convenient. The black death occurred prior to the industrial revolution? Sunspots. Measles is transmitted between children? A natural bodily process. Herpes is sexually transmitted? Resonant DNA. Oh, and good nutrition can prevent disease in all of these cases. The mental gymnastics at play is Olympic.

Cowan loves drawing from such reputable sources as Quizlet, Yahoo News, and wakeup-world.com to back up his ambitious claims, even if they don't agree with his own narrative presented in the very next chapter. When he quotes a "prominent scientist" he conveniently leaves out a citation (ch. 7) -- it could have been any one of his imaginary friends making these claims for all we know -- and never provides a citation when making ridiculous claims about the "harmful" effects of EMFs.

When he does occasionally draw from peer reviewed literature, he'll fail to mention how the research he is citing has never been independently replicated since the experiments were published in a journal of which the author is an editor (certainly no bias there). Or he will expertly leave out key pieces of information to support his own twisted theories (as was the case in his discussion of Spanish flu being caused by a BACTERIA rather than a virus).

Cowan loves nitpicking examples from history and presenting them in such a way as to support his theories, but never addresses a pebble of the literal mountains of evidence that support germ theory, or common sense facts that poke holes in his own shoddy narrative. The smallpox vaccine doesn't work? Then how did we eradicate it? 5G causes COVID? Then how has it spread to places without 5G?

I wanted to read this book to get an idea of those individuals who buy into anti-science hogwash. It is an embarrassment this charlatan has any degree at all, let alone an MD, and this printed garbage couldn't convince an amoeba. Therefore, I believe that the intended audience of this book are those who read it to validate their own feelings and thoughts about the world and not those who seek to actually understand it.

I could write my own book on why this schlock isn't worth a modicum of anyone's attention, and I haven't even got into some other critical errors (such as always assuming that correlation = causation, his naive nature fetishism, etc), but I will leave it at this. Truly an awful book.

[Ellen Christofferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read that all should read for a different perspective that is usually offered to us about the cause of disease, or dis-ease, in the body. Especially after everything that happened a few years back it is good to ask questions. It does read a bit like a science book at times so I gave it 4 stars but otherwise a good read for those that have an open mind.

[Adam H]

Impressed by his bravery I hope this gets out some many

Stuff I always new existed Dr Cohen puts it in a very understandable language changes definitely in need for humanity to survive

[Julianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although it has lots of pictures and references, the author lacks evidence and citations for many of his claims. He makes assertions way out of his field of expertise, with no support. He contradicts himself and promotes unhealthy habits.

There are kernels of truth in this book in much the same way there are kernels of corn in a baby's diaper. Ok, they may be there, but do you really want to dig through all this crap to get a few kernals? Maybe just find a better source.

[Jason Garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Once Cowan repents of his sins and believes on the Risen Lord Jesus, his worldview will fall into place.

[Rogier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very worthwhile exploration of other possiblities of looking at Covid and contagion in general, on a foundation of a lucid explanation of terrain theory.

Lots of food for thought, including brilliant exploration and explanation of terrain theory. However, if during the corona pandemic proper 95% of deaths had 4+ comorbidities, and 67% had 6 or more, it is clear we had a co-morbity problem, not a virus problem. Research was published in BMJ during this period, indicating that plant-based eaters had a 73% reduction in moderate to serious outcomes. The corona virus episode screams out that it is time for this shift, but this aspect has been completely ignored also.

Unfortunately, this angle remains un-explored in this book, since the author is completely wedded to a traditional concept of nutrition. Now, if I come across people who think they need animal-based food, I would rather see them follow the author's guidelines, but, from the standpoint of "improving the terrain," the whole foods, plant-based diet should be the first stop, because the majority of all the so-called co-morbidities of Covid are mostly or even wholly preventable or reversible with the principles of lifestyle medicine, including #WFPB nutrition.

Leaving that shortfall aside, the book is otherwise full of food for thought, and helpful explorations of the history of contagious disease. Surely, this book is a worthy addition to your post-Covid library. The last word has not been said about 5G, for there is a lot more coming out in connection with the vaccines, all of which is being studiously ignored in the main stream media. We will be sifting through the aftermath of Covid for years to come. But the first thing is that we have learned nothing from history, and this book is very helpful in widening the aperture.

[Megan Matheney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read it for work. I only recommend if you want to understand what's happening in the conspiracy sphere of society and also have a headache.

Most of these conspiracy theories aren't inherently crazy or impossible; what's crazy is claiming you know they're true when you have no evidence, only a hunch.

But I can understand why people get sucked into this stuff. Even if you recognize that there's nothing to back up the claims being made, you start to catch yourself questioning everything, the possibility that it could be true.

There are so many claims that you can't check them all. But if you try, you'll see that the sources are often blogs or conspiracy news sites or outdated papers from 50 years ago (or more). And the claims being made might sound "scientific". But some are real, some half-truths, misinterpretations, huge assumptions, and some are flat out lies (see last chapter that claims we are the only continuous breeders on earth).

It's a doozy.

[Tabitha Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely gave me some stuff to think about. Unfortunately many of the big premises have pretty big holes in them and the author resorts to hyperbole and dramatic statements that can't be backed up a lot. But very interesting nonetheless and does have me looking at more environmental factors beyond virus/bacteria exposure and such, even if not quite what he's claiming.

[Dinesh Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read book to know the other side of views

This is an interesting book. Readers may not feel the heaviness of the topic and content. Get an experience of what is not frequently told

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book works best when the author challenges conventional views of disease and contagion, but doesn’t work well when the author postulates her own theories about what causes disease and how disease gets transmitted.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overview for people who need to be convinced that viruses don't exist. I've came to this conclusion years ago. This book is speaking the truth and you need to read it.

[Deborah Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound and so helpful in this present world

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but exhausting. Glad for the knowledge.

[Colby Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information here. The only downside is the rampant pessimism and denial of who God is.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting (to say the very least)