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Disease and Illnesses

Some stores have implemented special shopping hours for senior people and immunocompromised individuals.

Covid-19

Stores Launch Special Shopping Times for Seniors and Other Groups Vulnerable to COVID-19

But will that keep susceptible populations safe?

A team photo of the 1919 team that won the Pacific Coast Hockey Association championship

Covid-19

When the Stanley Cup Final Was Canceled Because of a Pandemic

In 1919, a second wave of cases of the previous year’s flu lead to the sudden death of the hockey championship

A ward at the Mare Island Naval Hospital in California during the influenza epidemic, November 1918

The Next Pandemic

Ten Myths About the 1918 Flu Pandemic

The ‘greatest pandemic in history’ was 100 years ago – but many of us still get the basic facts wrong

A view of the deserted courtyard outside the closed Louvre

Covid-19

How COVID-19 Is Affecting the Cultural World

Museum closures and event cancellations abound as officials rush to contain the new coronavirus’ spread

This illustration, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows the virus' spiky, crown-like fringe that shrouds each viral particle—giving it a “coronated” appearance.

Covid-19

A Guide to What to Know About COVID-19

As COVID-19 spreads around the globe, so does misinformation. Here, you can find facts about the virus and infection it causes

Florence Nightingale in bed at South Street in 1906, aged 86

Celebrate Florence Nightingale’s 200th Birthday With Exhibit Featuring Her Famed Lamp, Pet Owl

The Florence Nightingale Museum in London seeks to illuminate the “full story” of the pioneering healthcare reformer

A rhesus monkey photographed in Florida in 2017.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like a Horde of Herpes-Infected Monkeys?

Feral rhesus macaques are invasive in Florida, but there are no easy solutions for managing them

Archaeologists unearthed the remains of at least 48 individuals, including 27 children.

Mass Grave Shows the Black Death’s ‘Catastrophic’ Impact in Rural England

At least 48 individuals were buried in a single grave in Lincolnshire, suggesting the community struggled to deal with an onslaught of plague victims

Left, the British Army camped at Balaklava in the Crimea. Right, an angelic Nightingale animates a stained glass window crafted around 1930.

The Defiance of Florence Nightingale

Scholars are finding there’s much more to the “lady with the lamp” than her famous exploits as a nurse in the Crimean War

The National Museum of China in Beijing is one of many institutions upping its online offerings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

China’s Art, From Museum Exhibits to Rock Concerts, Moves Online During Coronavirus Outbreak

The government has directed museums to “enrich the people’s spiritual and cultural life during the epidemic [with] cloud exhibitions”

Allene Goodenough (right) and Helyn James of the Young Women's Christian Association mop up a spot on the sidewalk where someone expectorated by an anti-spitting sign during a public health campaign in Syracuse, New York, in 1900.

Women Who Shaped History

When a Women-Led Campaign Made It Illegal to Spit in Public in New York City

While the efficacy of the spitting policy in preventing disease transmission was questionable, it helped usher in an era of modern public health laws

By detecting the genetic traces of cancer cells in a patient's blood, medical scientists could open the door to easier diagnosis and more effective treatments.

How Simple Blood Tests Could Revolutionize Cancer Treatment

The latest DNA science can match tumor types to new treatments, and soon, a blood test might be able to detect early signs of cancer

Since WHO established the Public Health Emergency of International Concern designation in 2005 following the SARS outbreak, it has only been used five times.

Last Week, the World Health Organization Declared Coronavirus a Global Health Emergency. What Does That Mean?

The Public Health Emergency of International Concern designation was established in 2005—and has only been used five times since

People walk past closed entrance of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Forbidden City and Parts of Great Wall Close Temporarily in China to Limit Spread of Coronavirus

Authorities are trying to reduce the number of big crowds as China celebrates the Lunar New Year

Coronaviruses, like the newly identified Wuhan coronavirus, are so named for their halo- or crown-like appearance.

Covid-19

Officials Pinpoint First COVID-19 Case in United States

The mostly mysterious pathogen is known to pass from person to person, causing respiratory illness

Each year, people need to get a new flu shot to protect against the latest version of the influenza virus, which rapidly mutates. A universal flu vaccine could protect people for life.

As the World Faces One of the Worst Flu Outbreaks in Decades, Scientists Eye a Universal Vaccine

A universal flu vaccine would eliminate the need for seasonal shots and defend against the next major outbreak

The high-status 16th-century woman (right) appears to have suffered from leprosy, a disfiguring disease that likely left its mark on her skin, tissues and bone.

Artists Reconstruct Centuries-Old Faces of Early Edinburgh Residents

Skulls uncovered beneath St. Giles’ Cathedral gave faces to a 12th-century man and a 16th-century woman

The bicolored white-toothed shrew (Crocidura leucodon), a small mammal known to carry and transmit Borna disease virus to other animals.

A Shrew-Borne Virus Is Responsible for Deadly Brain Infections in Humans

First discovered in livestock hundreds of years ago, Borna disease virus has apparently been claiming human lives for decades

Formalin-fixed lung collected in 1912 in Berlin from a 2-year-old girl who died of measles-related pneumonia

Century-Old Lungs May Push Origin of Measles Back 1,500 Years

The viral infection may have made its first hop into humans when large cities arose

A scholar spotted the long-overlooked image (its horns and face are at left, its legs on the right) while conducting research at a Berlin museum.

Cool Finds

This Demon, Immortalized in 2,700-Year-Old Assyrian Tablet, Was Thought to Cause Epilepsy

The damaged drawing was hidden on the back of a clay cuneiform tablet

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