Quammen, Fay and a small contingent of Gabonese porters spent 10 of those days machete-whacking through “an Ebola forest.” Over a campfire one night, the Gabonese shared how Ebola had recently ravaged their village; the host or “reservoir” was a chimpanzee killed by hunters.

That indelible experience led to "Spillover" and spin-off books "Ebola" (2014) and "The Chimp and the River" (2015).

Given his history, Quammen said he is routinely asked if he is surprised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“No, I was not surprised by coronavirus, I was not surprised by bats, I was not surprised by China, I was not surprised by fast spread,” he said. “The only thing I was surprised by was how unprepared we were to deal with it. Oh, we have test kits from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) ... but they don’t work? Are you kidding me?”

That the U.S. was caught ill-prepared and its economy wrecked despite scientists sounding alarms and journalists echoing their concerns, Quammen blames political and cultural indifference.