From the Black Death of the fourteenth century to HIV/AIDS and the recent COVID-19 crisis, pandemics and disease outbreaks have devastated societies, wiped out significant portions of populations, and necessitated political, social, and scientific changes to address these public health catastrophes. What have scientists and policymakers learned from historical pandemics, and what can be done to prevent future outbreaks? Journalists, politicians, medical professionals, and other experts from a range of fields weigh in on how pandemics happen and potential means of controlling them.

Introduction --The COVID-19 pandemic required an integrated national response / Brian J. Gerber and Melanie Gall -- Defining outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics / Arinjay Banerjee -- The Black Death of 1665 devastated England, but it started in China / Ben Johnson -- As civilization spread, so did smallpox / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- Flu vaccines may protect only 60 percent of people who receive it / Wayne C. Koff, Peter C. Doherty, and Margaret A. Hamburg -- The COVID-19 pandemic was politicized at the expense of science / Laura K. Field -- Medical professionals must unite against anti-vaccination movement / Azhar Hussain, Syed Ali, Madiha Ahmed, and Sheharyar Hussain -- Past pandemics led to the first international disease control efforts / Anne-Emanuelle Birn -- The connection between slavery and the first yellow fever pandemic / Billy G. Smith -- Fever motivated a useless flu immunization campaign in 1976 / Joan Trossman Bien -- How to lie with statistics : The case of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa / Ernest Harsch -- Animal health affects human health : The case of ebola / Arinjay Banerjee, Colin Brown, and Grant Hill-Cawthorne -- Outbreaks among the poor go unnoticed / Ben Oppenheim and Gavin Yamey -- Better tools and systems are needed for pandemic preparedness / Bill Gates -- Lesson from the ebola outbreak : Preparation and surveillance are essential / Viroj Wiwanitkit, Ernest Tambo, Emmanuel Chidiebere Ugwu, Jeane Yonkeu Ngogang, and Xiao-Nong Zhou -- COVID-19 vaccine development occured with astonishing speed / Marcel Salanthé -- Organizations to contact -- Bibliography -- Index.