Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

Zoonotic diseases cannot be understood without scientists. Quammen relies on experts to teach him about zoonoses, and his narratives repeatedly stress the work of experts in identifying disease, treating patients, and tracing the origins of particular illnesses. Hume Field’s central role in both the Hendra and Nipah sections, along with his role in the SARS outbreak, underscores the importance of expertise and experience. When Nipah was still unknown, Dr. Lam “needed an expert. No one was an expert on Nipah virus, not yet, but an expert on Hendra might be the next best thing” (318).

Much of this expertise is interdisciplinary: Hume Field brings his background as both a veterinarian and an ecologist to the search for Hendra’s reservoir. Quammen introduces one of Field’s students, Rayna Plowright, as “one of this new breed of cross-trained disease specialists” (366). Expertise, then, is particularly valuable when it highlights humanity’s animal nature. Beatrice Hahn relies on collaboration with Jane Goodall to collect her data at Gombe. Introducing new experts also provides new lines of thinking and corrects errors. Rick Ostfeld identifies that white-footed mice are a stronger predictor of Lyme disease than deer.