Why it’s so difficult for scientists to predict the next outbreak of a dangerous disease

Feb 22, 2019

A mother of a child, suspected of dying from Ebola, cries near her child's coffin in Beni, North Kivu Province of Democratic Republic of Congo, December 17, 2018. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC15E18C2DE0

Outbreaks of infectious disease are inherently unpredictable in nature. Image: REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

C. Brandon Ogbunu

Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University

Randall Harp

Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Vermont

Samuel V. Scarpino

Assistant Professor of Network Science, Northeastern University

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Why it’s so difficult for scientists to predict the next outbreak of a dangerous disease

C. Brandon Ogbunu

Randall Harp

Samuel V. Scarpino

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Randall Harp

Samuel V. Scarpino

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Biotechnology

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Here’s what we can learn about diet from our ancestors

This new way of understanding disease is changing medicine

Climate-friendly diets tend to be good for us

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