By Robin Marantz Henig
We have missed many warning signs of the pandemic. Starting in the 1990s, scientists coined the term "emerging virus". It was first used by virologist Stephen Morse. He described modern conditions like urbanization and animal-human proximity that could release deadly pathogens that had never been seen before. He and others warned that globalization could then aid these diseases in moving around the world. Even though the warning signs were there, many doctors believed the next pandemic would be the flu. Why?
It was easy to pretend something like coronavirus doesn't exist, and besides, it is very hard to track and predict the evolution of pathogens. Also, many didn't believe a global pandemic would be coming because, in our sheltered world, we saw viruses like SARS and Ebola mainly contained to their regions. It was easy to just say other countries were susceptible. We've dodged a bullet so many times that we became aloof, and this one brought humanity to its knees.
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