Amy Cherrix’s meticulously researched page-turner Virus Hunters: How Science Protects People When Outbreaks and Pandemics Strike (Harper/HarperCollins, 8–12 years) puts a timely topic in context by examining the important work of epidemiologists in six case studies at various moments in history. For more scientific middle-grade nonfiction, see our list “Real science” in this issue of Notes.

1. You’ve written nonfiction in a variety of formats for various age levels. What’s the process of deciding what form a topic will take?

Photo courtesy of Amy Cherrix.

Amy Cherrix: Once I am satisfied that sufficient primary source material is available to cover my topic, the subject matter determines the format. For Virus Hunters, a longer-form narrative strategy was needed to place each of the book’s six outbreaks in the proper context and meticulously cite sources.

I first had the idea for the book in March of 2020, a time when the world was clamoring for any shred of new information to explain what was happening with the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon, I was devouring primary source histories of past outbreaks and pandemics. I knew that when another pandemic inevitably occurred in the future, young readers would need information that I didn’t have at that time.

2. How do you draw in readers and make a potentially complex subject (epidemiology) compelling? How did this book’s organization/order evolve?

AC: With the exception of the opening story, set in 1993, the sections are chronological. I knew it had to culminate in the COVID-19 pandemic to show how public health science has evolved over time, paving the way for development of the COVID-crushing mRNA vaccines.

To bring characters to life and write an engaging story, I interviewed as many primary sources as possible. After vaccines made it safe to travel again, I visited the CDC in Atlanta to meet officers in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, as well as microbiologists, chemists, and virologists who work on the front lines of disease outbreaks. These interviews, along with meeting transcripts, memoirs, oral histories, newspaper and magazine articles, photographs, and other historical accounts helped me write a “feels-like-you’re-there” narrative and clearly explain scientific concepts. Portraying an event through the eyes of a person who lived it can help readers imagine what they themselves might do — and the choices they might make — under similar circumstances. I also used short chapters to support the high-stakes action of the story and keep the pages turning.

3. Did the information about the Indigenous perspective on how disease is spread surface during your research, or were you aware of it going in?

AC: I was aware of how the Indigenous perspective informed the 1993 Four Corners hantavirus outbreak investigation before I began researching the project. That’s why I opened the book with the story. Native Americans there had observed for many years that rainy seasons were connected to rising mouse populations and that a sickness (later discovered to be hantavirus) followed. They correctly deduced that it was transmitted by the mice and took precautions to limit contact with rodents. Their lived experience helped them recognize connections between climate changes and a deadly disease outbreak.

It was also important to highlight how pandemics impact historically marginalized groups. Diné (Navajo) communities were denigrated and disrespected during the hantavirus outbreak. Decades later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Native American populations suffered disproportionately high coronavirus rates in the U.S. Despite huge leaps in public health science, there is much more to be done to protect historically marginalized communities during outbreaks and pandemics.

4. What stories did you have to leave out and/or was there anything you learned that you wish you could forget about diseases?

AC: I originally planned to include the story of a fatal Ebola virus outbreak in monkeys that were housed within a suburban veterinary quarantine station just outside of Washington, DC. It was a riveting account that featured two army doctors transporting a couple of plastic-wrapped monkey cadavers in the trunk of their car. As they drove the animals from Virginia to Maryland for testing, they feared the monkeys were infected with an Ebola strain that, left unchecked, could ignite an outbreak of the virus near the heart of the nation’s capital. Tests eventually revealed that the quarantine station outbreak was not the Ebola strain deadly to humans. Given that the crisis was contained and posed no threat to the general public, I did not include it.

I was terrified by every account I read of diseases and how they have devastated populations throughout history. But I take nothing for granted when it comes to public health now. Too many dedicated people have devoted their lives and careers to the defense of public health for me to turn my back on so much life-saving, world-changing knowledge. I wanted young readers to understand why all of us owe public health professionals an immense debt of gratitude.

5. Why is studying disease especially important now?

AC: The uncomfortable truth is that pandemics are part of the human experience. Another global outbreak will occur. Will it be an avian influenza virus like H5N1, first detected in poultry but now infecting cattle and humans? Scientists remain vigilant. If H5N1 evolves to become easily transmissible between people, it could spark a flu pandemic. It’s also possible that the next global outbreak will come in the form of a new virus. Whatever the pathogen, we need more experts keeping watch. Prioritizing well-funded research by scientists who are beholden to data — not politicians — is essential to the protection of human life.

And yet, despite the abundance of historical evidence and rigorous peer-reviewed research supporting the essential role of proactive public health policy, our government is once again prioritizing political gain over the health of the American people. Politically motivated personnel cuts have reached the CDC in recent days. According to CBS News, the agency’s world-renowned squad of virus hunters, the Epidemic Intelligence Service, has been cut by half. Overall, one in ten CDC employees has been let go. Every American is imperiled by these losses.

When our government’s health agencies are hamstrung by politicians who disregard decades of proven scientific strategy that safeguard public health in the U.S. and around the world, it is up to all of us to help protect ourselves and each other. Public health citizenship is an essential tool in the fight against infectious disease. We are responsible to one another, and we are not helpless! We can all defend society by getting vaccines, wearing masks, and staying home when we are sick. These are time-tested, proven, and simple public health protections that have profound impacts on the welfare of our communities and help shield the most vulnerable among us.

We are safer, stronger, healthier when we stand together, and when we elect leaders who view public health as a national priority.

From the February 2025 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.