Summary

In Chapter 6, “The New World Order,” Osterholm focuses on how human development, especially recently, has created ideal conditions for disease outbreaks. Until the invention of farming, humans lived in small, nomadic groups that could not support a virus outbreak. The dawn of agriculture brought about larger, more densely packed human populations that were in close contact with larger, more densely packed animal populations. This created the perfect environment for viruses to spread and mutate. The One Health movement, of which Osterholm is a great supporter, recognizes that because human and animal (especially food-stock animal) health is so closely linked, keeping people healthy means also keeping animals and their environments healthy. A disease that jumps from animals to humans is likely one humans do not yet have an immunity built up towards, and so can have devastating effects, like the Bubonic plague did in...