There are so many instances that point, overtly and subtly, to the inevitability of a severe spillover and how biblically destructive it would be (“ How many other Nipahs are slouching toward Bethlehem to be born?“). Prolific science writer David Quammen’s 2012 book Spillover is even more prophetic than Preston’s book. Understanding something about these specific infections, how disaster had been averted in previous spillovers (scarily, sometimes the answer is just “shrug”), and what we can learn from hard-won developments can only be beneficial as we look to reshape societies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Preston joins many scientists and epidemiologists who have warned similarly, and particularly hauntingly that the economic disparity inherent in places including the United States would be especially magnified when - not if - the Next Big One hits. His predictions were, as I mentioned in my review then, eerie and unsettling.
Richard Preston’s Crisis in the Red Zonelast year warned that, harrowing as its most recent outbreak was, an ebolavirus wasn’t going to be the “Next Big One” - that is, the next animal infection that’s transmissible to humans, or a zoonosis - to spill over between species and cause death on a massive scale. Why is this even a political issue in America?) (For the love of everything, just wear a gd mask. I completely understand why people would want to avoid immersing in information about scary topics like deadly viruses while living through a pandemic and the uncertainties and anxieties it creates, but I felt like being armed with information was the only thing I could do for myself, and others, in addition to following standard guidelines. I bought this book as soon as COVID-19 appeared in the US for the above reason. The purpose of this book is to make you more smart. The purpose of this book is not to make you more worried. Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, by David Quammen ( Amazon)
0 kommentar(er)
