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That sounds like part of a philosophical or poetic passage—perhaps something like:

“And for its part, what is life but an infectious disease of matter?”

This line has circulated in various forms and is often attributed to philosophers or speculative writers. It encapsulates the idea that life is a peculiar state in which inert matter becomes animated—almost like a parasitic phenomenon that spreads, consumes, and replicates.

It doesn’t appear to be a direct quote from Charles C. Mann, but rather echoes themes explored in biology, philosophy, and sometimes science fiction—particularly the notion that life “infects” matter with purpose, motion, and decay.

A few similar ideas have been expressed by others:

• Alan Watts once said:
  “You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing.”
  —suggesting life is not separate from matter, but a process within it.
• Richard Dawkins described organisms as:
  “Survival machines—robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.”
• William S. Burroughs is often (dubiously) attributed with:
  “Language is a virus from outer space.”
  —a metaphor of life and communication as contagious forces.

Do you want this idea elaborated into a quote in the style of Mann, or are you looking for the source of that specific line?