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The Horizon Guide to Pandemic

In the wake of the swine flu outbreak, virologist Dr Mike Leahy goes back over 50 years of BBC archives to explore the history of pandemics: waves of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites. Inspired primarily by the Horizon back catalogue, he works his way through the diseases that have been tackled head-on through the 20th Century: polio, malaria, smallpox, AIDS, and up to the present day with SARS and the H5N1 bird-flu virus. Each pandemic episode tells us something about the world and our place within it. In his trip through the ages and the archives, Dr Leahy charts science's ongoing battle with nature and questions which one is winning. He makes a reasonable fist of the exercise, but is somewhat up against it as his source material can be patchy - first triumphant about man's successes and then defeatist when the previous triumph didn't work out quite as planned, etc.

English
  • Originally Aired August 9, 2009
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Special Position Airs before season 2009, episode 12
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Production Code b00m3z7w
  • Network BBC Two
  • On Other Sites Official Website
  • Created March 26, 2020 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified March 26, 2020 by
    Administrator admin
Name Type Role
Louise Bourner Producer
Mike Leahy Guest Star
Louise Bourner Director