Quote of the Day (Jill Lepore, on Epidemics and Their Coverage)

“Epidemics follow patterns because diseases follow patterns. Viruses spread; they reproduce; they die. Epidemiologists study patterns in order to combat infection. Stories about epidemics follow patterns, too. Stories aren’t often deadly but they can be virulent: spreading fast, weakening resistance, wreaking havoc.”—Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore, “It’s Spreading: Outbreaks, Media Scares, and the Parrot Panic of 1930,” The New Yorker, June 1, 2009