On a fateful day in 2019, a minuscule virus made an Earth-changing move, leaping from an animal to a human in the Chinese city of Wuhan. This moment has led to hundreds of millions of global infections, leaving millions dead. Less than two years on, the world has changed.
While chance no doubt played a part in this zoonotic jump, the ensuing pandemic is far from a random streak of bad luck. As Professor Peter Hotez sees it, COVID-19 is a crystal clear reflection of the many problems facing the 21st century.
“COVID-19 met the perfect storm of several forces that were happening,” Professor Hotez, the bow-tie-wearing Dean of the US National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, tells IFLScience.