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The supposed “Patient Zero” during the North American HIV epidemic—in other words, the first person known to have contracted HIV and brought it to Canada and America—and a classic example of how individual people play a disproportionate role in epidemics of all kinds. It’s worth noting, however, that Dugas’ role as “Patient Zero” has recently been disproved (after the writing of Gladwell’s book).
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Gaetan Dugas Character Timeline in The Tipping Point
The timeline below shows where the character Gaetan Dugas appears in The Tipping Point. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One: The Three Rules of Epidemics
...and were generally unlike the average adult. Yet they had a huge influence on Colorado. Gaetan Dugas , often called “Patient Zero” for the North American AIDS epidemic (i.e., the first person...
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