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All about Zika

Book review of Kalpish Ratna's 'The Secret Life of Zika Virus'

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Sahil Makkar
The Secret Life of Zika Virus 
Kalpish Ratna
Speaking Tiger
263 pages; Rs 299

The first thing that strikes you when you read this third book by Kalpish Ratna, a pseudonym for surgeons Ishrat Syed and Kalpana Swaminathan, is that it is not meant for the average reader. Although the writers have put their heart and soul into making the book interesting and accessible, it works better as an encyclopaedia for researchers, scientists, doctors and virologists.

The title explicitly suggests that the book is about the Zika virus, which recently caught the world’s attention after hundreds of babies with