Avian Reservoirs: Virus Hunters and Birdwatchers in Chinese Sentinel Posts. By Frédéric Keck. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2020. 256 pp. ISBN: 9781478006985 (paper)

[...]the ecological and political dynamics of the region suggested that such an outbreak might follow a pattern similar to SARS, perhaps with an avian influenza virus making the next interspecies leap to humans in China before spreading into adjacent territories and around the world. In a chapter addressing “simulations,” Keck compares strategies for anticipating catastrophic events in all three areas, examining computer simulations of future viral mutations, public health rehearsals for announcements of human infections of avian influenza, and actions by bird-watching societies to prevent species extinctions. In this modality, often adopted by public health officials and other government agents, the task of managing human health may require sacrificing animals, through culling or other means.