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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the head of the first meeting Osterholm attended about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, before doctors knew what they were dealing with?

2. In which part of Minnesota did Osterholm investigate an outbreak of diarrheal illness in 1984?

3. What is one of the problems with the vaccine industry, according to Osterholm?

4. What bestelling book did Richard Preston write in 1994?

5. What process for killing bacteria is Louis Pasteur famous for discovering?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, what is the term Osterholm uses for an event that comes as a surprise and is a major disrupting influence on society?

2. What is one of the main reasons Osterholm says it is quicker to produce drugs than vaccines?

3. What were the two relatively rare conditions doctors began seeing in patients at the outset of the AIDS epidemic?

4. In the Introduction, what are the two metaphors for disease that Osterholm sets out for use throughout the book?

5. What does Osterholm say public health science is based on, and how does the public perceive these things?

6. What common product did Osterholm and his colleagues eventually trace the development of toxic shock syndrome to?

7. What is one sometimes fatal reaction the human body has to microbes, especially in those with strong immune systems?

8. How was Osterholm personally affected by the AIDS epidemic?

9. In Chapter 1, why does the CDC's Jim Curran move quickly to name the AIDS disease as it is named?

10. What is one of the factors Osterholm thinks contributed to the anti-vaccine movement?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Osterholm use the analogy of the myth of Pandora, and Pandora's box, to explain or illustrate in this book? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Why are people living in some megacities around the world potentially more vulnerable to outbreaks caused by some pathogens that those living in more rural or less dense environments? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 3

What is a threat matrix, and how does it work? What is the purpose of a threat matrix in public health? Write an essay explaining your answers.

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