The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) is the result of many years in the planning, and it finally officially opened its doors in September 2019, just months before the entire world was tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is the work of many people who represent an even larger pool of people from NCID, Singapore and the rest of the world in trying to understand and contain the SARS- CoV-2 virus. There are chapters on science, the public health response both locally and globally, as well as personal reflections from NCID and Tan Tock Seng Hospital staff and staff from other public healthcare institutions who were deployed to NCID which bring home the human impact of the pandemic. We are very grateful to all the authors for taking the time to put together their thoughtful chapters as well as the senior academics and public health leaders who have provided us with generous comments on the manuscript. We hope that the readers of the book will gain a better insight into the response to the virus from so many different perspectives. Although the pandemic has evolved far beyond the pages of this book globally, the lessons learned from the early days are still relevant. We hope that the chapters will be helpful as we review our experience of this pandemic and face the next emerging infectious disease in the years to come.This book provides a comprehensive look at many different aspects of response in Singapore to the pandemic in the crucial first several months, including clinical, laboratory, epidemiology, research, community engagement and the unprecedented challenge of outbreak involving migrant workers in dormitory settings. On a personal note, it has first-hand accounts of staff at the NCID who were at the forefront of battling COVID-19 in Singapore. It also gives a global perspective of the pandemic, together with insights into the unique Singapore experience of managing the pandemic. The Singapore response to the pandemic has been something which the global community has been very interested in and this book is the first to comprehensively describe that response from a number of different angles which will be useful to scientists, clinicians, public health professionals and policy makers.

Chickens cannot be bought in Vietnam restaurants for love or money. New reports are emerging every week of the global reach of avian influenza in birds. Africa and Europe are now affected by what was thought to be an Asian poultry disease. Governments worldwide are stockpiling antiviral drugs and forming rationing plans. Citizens are concerned that they will not be in “the list” of those who will receive these wonder drugs. Reports are emerging of antiviral drug resistance as the influenza virus mutates.What is the influenza virus? Why are people so worried about pandemic influenza? What is a pandemic? Will it really happen? What is the real situation of avian influenza in humans in Asia? What are governments in the region doing to control the epidemic in birds? Are we overreacting to a couple of hundred cases in humans across Asia and Europe? What if there is no pandemic?In this timely book, a group of experts from across Asia come together to answer these and other issues. While there are many questions which can never be answered, here for the first time is a series of scholarly articles written for the layperson by scientists and clinicians addressing the issues surrounding avian influenza and global pandemic influenza in humans.

The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) is the result of many years in the planning, and it finally officially opened its doors in September 2019, just months before the entire world was tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is the work of many people who represent an even larger pool of people from NCID, Singapore and the rest of the world in trying to understand and contain the SARS- CoV-2 virus. There are chapters on science, the public health response both locally and globally, as well as personal reflections from NCID and Tan Tock Seng Hospital staff and staff from other public healthcare institutions who were deployed to NCID which bring home the human impact of the pandemic. We are very grateful to all the authors for taking the time to put together their thoughtful chapters as well as the senior academics and public health leaders who have provided us with generous comments on the manuscript. We hope that the readers of the book will gain a better insight into the response to the virus from so many different perspectives. Although the pandemic has evolved far beyond the pages of this book globally, the lessons learned from the early days are still relevant. We hope that the chapters will be helpful as we review our experience of this pandemic and face the next emerging infectious disease in the years to come.This book provides a comprehensive look at many different aspects of response in Singapore to the pandemic in the crucial first several months, including clinical, laboratory, epidemiology, research, community engagement and the unprecedented challenge of outbreak involving migrant workers in dormitory settings. On a personal note, it has first-hand accounts of staff at the NCID who were at the forefront of battling COVID-19 in Singapore. It also gives a global perspective of the pandemic, together with insights into the unique Singapore experience of managing the pandemic. The Singapore response to the pandemic has been something which the global community has been very interested in and this book is the first to comprehensively describe that response from a number of different angles which will be useful to scientists, clinicians, public health professionals and policy makers.

Chickens cannot be bought in Vietnam restaurants for love or money. New reports are emerging every week of the global reach of avian influenza in birds. Africa and Europe are now affected by what was thought to be an Asian poultry disease. Governments worldwide are stockpiling antiviral drugs and forming rationing plans. Citizens are concerned that they will not be in “the list” of those who will receive these wonder drugs. Reports are emerging of antiviral drug resistance as the influenza virus mutates.What is the influenza virus? Why are people so worried about pandemic influenza? What is a pandemic? Will it really happen? What is the real situation of avian influenza in humans in Asia? What are governments in the region doing to control the epidemic in birds? Are we overreacting to a couple of hundred cases in humans across Asia and Europe? What if there is no pandemic?In this timely book, a group of experts from across Asia come together to answer these and other issues. While there are many questions which can never be answered, here for the first time is a series of scholarly articles written for the layperson by scientists and clinicians addressing the issues surrounding avian influenza and global pandemic influenza in humans.