People think this is a problem that started with COVID. It is not.

* 2002: SARS
* 2003: H5N1 ("avian flu")
* 2009: H1N1 ("swine flu")
* 2012: MERS
* 2013: Ebola
* 2015: Zika virus
* 2019: COVID
* 2022: Monkeypox

And these are just the ones that broke out regionally or globally. There were lots of smaller epidemics as well that you've never heard of, because they only affected people who live in the Global South.

COVID was just the first one to break through the global system of disease containment. Barring some serious changes in how we relate to the environment, it will not be the last.