Malcolm Gladwell

Two books published in 1994 prompted much discussion over emerging diseases: The Hot Zone by Richard Preston and The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett. In the following viewpoint, Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine and a former New York bureau chief for the Washington Post newspaper, examines the theory popularized by these books that emerging infectious diseases pose a significant threat to humanity. He criticizes the two works and similar writings for exaggerating the dangers of infectious diseases to humans and underestimating the abilities of the scientific and medical establishments to overcome them. Gladwell argues that the chances that a lethal and communicable “super-virus” could threaten humanity’s existence are extremely remote.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In what ways is humanity...