Roots of an Outbreak
How the Next Pandemic Could Start
The next pandemic is just a forest clearing away. We’re not doing enough to prevent viruses from spilling over from wildlife to humans.
Featured
Out of Balance
The World Bank Group enabled the devastation of villages and helped a mining company justify the deaths of endangered chimps with a dubious offset.
The Scientist and the Bats
Funders thought watching bats wasn’t important. Then she helped solve the mystery of a deadly virus.
Seeding Hope
They set out to save rainforests — and stumbled upon a way to help prevent the world’s next deadly pandemic.
On the Edge
The next deadly pandemic is just a forest clearing away. But we’re not even trying to prevent it.
Other Entries
Why Scientists Have a Hard Time Getting Money to Study the Root Causes of Outbreaks
Government and nonprofit groups that award grants to scientists favor research that’s high tech and treatment oriented rather than studies that seek to understand why contagions leap from animals to people in the first place.
This Scientist Tracked Bats for Decades and Solved a Mystery About a Deadly Disease
Ecologist Peggy Eby’s discovery after decades of studying bats in Australia underscores the time and shoe-leather research needed to prevent future pandemics.
Au bord de la catastrophe
Une simple clairière de forêt nous sépare de la prochaine pandémie mortelle. Mais nous n’essayons même pas de la prévenir.
How Forest Loss Can Unleash the Next Pandemic
The forests around the epicenter of the world’s worst Ebola outbreak are getting patchier. The next pandemic could emerge from the edges around these patches, where wildlife and humans mix.
How We Found That Sites of Previous Ebola Outbreaks Are at Higher Risk Than Before
Research links deforestation to outbreaks. Combining two peer-reviewed models and the latest satellite images of tree loss, we discovered that the sites of five previous outbreaks have a greater chance of facing Ebola again.