[doesn’t every hideous epidemic usually start there?]
Damn near.
Not only human and pets, but the plant world is being attacked by insects coming in from China in wooden pallets. The Asian Longhorn Beetle is killing our Sugar Maples up here in the NE.
Some borer beetle is killing our pines, cedars and Leyland cypress like crazy.
The tops of the mountains which were formerly covered in pine are barren wastelands.