Author: Laurel Hamers / Source: Science News

In 1918, a pandemic of Spanish flu killed as much as 5 percent of the world’s population.
A hundred years later, scientists know much more about how to prevent and treat such diseases. But in some ways, the threat of a global outbreak is greater than ever. All it takes is one plane ride for a few localized cases of a disease to become an epidemic.A new exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., traces the way infectious diseases still shape our world. The exhibit, called “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World,” is centered around the concept of One Health — the idea that the health of humans, other animals and the environment are all intertwined, so protecting one requires protecting all (SN: 3/31/18, p. 20).

News coverage of disease outbreaks often focuses on the deaths they cause, notes Jonathan Epstein of EcoHealth Alliance, the exhibit’s chief science adviser. One goal of the exhibit, he says, is “to give the public a look at how these…
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