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The spread of contagious diseases is an exceedingly complex phenomenon influenced by everything from the science behind a virus, the sociology that governs how it spreads, the pubic policy that dictates the medical and political response, and the transportation measures taken to blunt exposure.
Oftentimes, it’s boiled down to a silly montage in a movie that makes it seem inevitable that a fast-moving illness can and will spread across the globe in just weeks. But depictions like that also undermine how much work goes into containing viruses like the recent coronavirus outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread worldwide.
Thankfully, The New York Times this week published a fascinating look at just what…