We are writing this introduction in the midst of a global pandemic. Over the
past several months, humans have experienced history in the making. We
have each come to more intimately understand and appreciate the power of
nature, through the replication of a microscopic organism, to redefine global
standards virtually overnight, bringing life as we knew it to a halt and
connecting us as a global species more than ever before. The virus causing
this pandemic, a coronavirus, originated in free-ranging wildlife, and jumped
species to humans as a result of close and unnatural contact, with a dense
interface created by humans and their cultural preference for the consumption
of bushmeat.