Virus Hunter

Nathan Wolfe has a mission: to prevent new pathogens from making the jump from animals to humans--and stop the next deadly pandemic before it starts

Brent StirtonReportage by Getty Images for TIME

Hunters collect blood from animals they've killed and turn it in for research.

Junior creeps through the tropical forest, searching for his prey. The hardwood trees in southern Cameroon are some of the most valuable in Central Africa, their branches towering above 50 ft. (15 m), but Junior's eyes are on the jungle floor. He's a hunter, and his target is bush meat: wild forest animals like porcupines, the cat-size antelopes called dik-diks, perhaps even monkeys. One would be enough to feed his family for a couple of days, or he could sell it to truckers passing along the new, Chinese-made logging roads that cut through this once untouched part of the forest. When...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!