Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic [Paperback]

In 2020, the novel coronavirus gripped the world in a global pandemic and led to the death of hundreds of thousands. The source of the previously unknown virus? Bats. This phenomenonin which a new pathogen comes to humans from wildlifeis known as spillover, and it may not be long before it happens again.A masterpiece of science reporting that tracks the animal origins of emerging human diseases, David Quammen [is] one of that rare breed of science journalists who blend exploration with a talent for synthesis and storytelling. An adventure-filled page-turner&told from the front lines of pandemic prevention. As page turning as Richard Prestons David Quammen might be my favorite living science writer: amiable, erudite, understated, incredibly funny, profoundly humane. Quammen balances the technical terms with gorily gripping description and scenes from his own fearless journeys&But his real gift is his writing, with its nice balance of reverence and whimsy. Quammens more teacher than Jeremiah. So he calms when he can; but hes blunt when he must be. The scariest book youll read this year. [An] ambitious and encyclopedic voyage&Mr. Quammen does a beautiful job of showing how so much of scientific knowledge is provisional, with great unknowns about infectious diseases. David Quammen has done it again. Fascinating and terrifying, This is a frightening and fascinating masterpiece of science reporting that reads like a detective story. David Quammen takes us on a quest to understand AIDS, Ebola, and other diseases that share a frightening commonality: they all jumped from wild animals to humans. By explaining this growing trend, Quammen not only provides a warning about the diseases we will face in the future, he also causes us to reflect on our place as humans in the earths ecosystem. US