In Six Modern Plagues, Mark Jerome Walters elucidates the surprising connections between human-induced changes to the natural environment and recent epidemics, including West Nile virus, mad cow disease, HIV/AIDS. Lyme disease, and SARS. According to Walters, we are not only victims of these emerging diseases; we are helping exacerhate their creation and spread. Only if we learn to recognize our role in these outbreaks, or, "eco-demics," can we take measures to diffuse their power. For the new paperback edition, Walters has updated information on the recent bird flu epidemic.