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psychologically--to do what it took to protect themselves. The theory proved true. The places hit hardest in 2003 included China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. When COVID emerged, most of these governments responded quickly and decisively, limiting the numbers of COVID cases for more than a year. Maybe Crimson Contagion, Dark Winter, and the rest didn't have more impact because their scenarios seemed so remote at the time--at least to most people and most politicians. Now, though, the idea of a virus spreading around the world, killing millions of people and doing trillions of dollars in damage, is very real for all of us. We should take the outbreak of a disease at least as seriously as we take earthquakes and tsunamis. To keep COVID from happening again, we need to practice stopping pathogens early, learn which parts of the system need to improve, and be willing to change even when it's difficult to do so.