A tale about viruses, bats, and "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells

An alien conqueror abruptly succumbs after interacting with terrestrial pathogens to which they lack natural immunity. This classic of SciFi literature, written in 1898 by H.G Wells, portrays cross-species transmission and its potentially devastating effects. This phenomenon can be explained using viral sharing networks, host phylogenetic similarity, and geographic range overlap, which could take us closer to understanding disease spillover into humans, and the consequences of environmental changes. “I was a battleground of fear and curiosity” summarizes what it has meant to study the host-pathogen relationship and the emergence of infections in new hosts.