One dot is just that: an isolated person, bacterium, virus, parasite, place or time. But a bunch of dots begins to make a line if they become organized by chance or by design. That’s our job in public health; to see the dots before they become a line and do whatever we must so that line never materializes.”
-- Osterholm (Chapter 2)

Importance: In this quote, Osterholm tells the reader what he fundamentally understands public health to be. It is not just studying disease, but making sense of it. Hopefully, making the kind of sense that leads to taking proactive measures. It also reinforces the idea that we are all together in this.

Today we live in a just-in-time delivery economy where virtually nothing is warehoused for future sales, let alone stockpiled for a crisis situation. Not even the parts and components necessary to manufacture these critical supplies are warehoused or stockpiled.”
-- Osterholm (Chapter 4)

Importance: Osterholm provides...