The Big Answer

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Jaret looks at the fact that scientists don’t yet know what keeps the “hot” viruses like Ebola, Lassa fever and others from spreading faster and farther. They guess that it’s because they’re too lethal—killing their victims before they can infect enough human hosts to sustain an epidemic. Such killers may dictate much about humanity’s future. Or they may not. Of such things nightmares are made.

Killer viruses may dictate much about humanity’s future—of such things nightmares are made

Update: see also Emerging Viruses, The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, Bacteria in hospitals that there is no cure or treatment for, and Deadly Feasts: The “Prion” Controversy and the Public’s Health.

Drug-resistant bacteria or viruses may just take us all down