Invisible Killers
INVISIBLE KILLERS, a three-part documentary series, looks at how viruses have shaped our health and history, the biological and social impact they have on our global society, and the incredible science that has arisen to combat them. Each of the episodes will focus on an individual virus, reaching back to tell the history of that virus, and looking closely at the state of the research and technology surrounding the disease today. Influenza, smallpox, and ebola are among the three most lethal viruses ever to have plagued mankind. Each has taken a devastatingly large toll on the human population. Smallpox killed more people than all the wars in human history, and we are just one test tube away from biomedical warfare. The flu spreads like wildfire across the globe every year, killing the young and the old alike, and ebola shocks and terrifies the world each time it emerges.
Episodes
INFLUENZA delves into the astonishing and little-understood history and impact of this constantly evolving virus, which is often tragically underestimated as merely a cousin to the common cold. The episode explores the complex science behind influenza’s constantly changing nature, and investigates the ongoing significant threat it poses to the world, both in its seasonal and pandemic varieties.
SMALLPOX tells the story of what many people agree is medical science’s single greatest accomplishment, the complete eradication of the worst disease known to humankind, a scourge responsible for an estimated 500 million deaths in the 20th century alone. However, after its disappearance in 1980, the threat of smallpox never fully abated, it transformed – from a feared and deadly disease into one of the most significant bioterror threats facing humankind.
EBOLA looks back at the perfect storm of the 2014 West Africa outbreak that resulted in 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths and shows the devastation that can result when we underestimate and are not prepared for emerging threats. The episode also tells the little known success story of the outbreak - the first effective Ebola vaccine.
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