Still afraid of bird flu? Black plague? David Quammen explores the history and mysteries of animal infections and human pandemic in his new book “Spillover.” Quammen’s chronicles of the little known relations between animal diseases and human illness is a fascinating (and terrifying) read.

Quammen takes on frightening subject matter -- from the AIDS pandemic that was the result of a spillover from a chimpanzee to a human, to SARS, Ebola, and Lyme disease.

Smart, interesting, and, according to Publisher’s Weekly, “critically important,” “Spillover” gracefully relates humanity to the rest of the natural world by examining the problems that affect us all.

Guest:

David Quammen, author of “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic” (W.W. Norton 2012)

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen