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Viruses

Thought leaders gathered at the National Museum of Natural History to discuss the past, present and future of the flu.

The Next Pandemic

When the Next Pandemic Hits, Will We Be Prepared?

The question isn’t whether a pandemic will strike—it’s how it will play out.

Corpsmen in cap and gown ready to attend patients in influenza ward of US Naval Hospital in Mare Island, California, December 10, 1918.

The Next Pandemic

The United States Is Not Ready for Another Flu Pandemic

You might think that today, if a pandemic like the 1918 flu hit, we’d be ready for it. You’d be wrong

A demonstration at the Red Cross Emergency Ambulance Station in Washington, D.C., during the influenza pandemic of 1918

The Next Pandemic

Why Did the 1918 Flu Kill So Many Otherwise Healthy Young Adults?

Uncovering a World War I veteran’s story provided a genealogist and pharmacologist with some clues

Over time, the presence of lab-grown, infected mosquitoes may lead to a dwindling Asian Tiger mosquito population

EPA Approves Use of Lab-Grown Mosquitoes in the Battle Against Disease

The bacterium-infected mosquitoes will be released in 20 states and D.C. to curb growing mosquito populations

Flu pandemics begin when novel animal viruses start spreading between people.

The Next Pandemic

How to Stop a Lethal Virus

With tens of millions of lives at stake, medical researchers are racing to create a revolutionary flu vaccine before the next devastating epidemic

An emergency hospital at Camp Funston, Kansas, 1918. “Of the 12 men who slept in my squad room, 7 were ill at one time,” a soldier recalled.

The Next Pandemic

How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America

The toll of history’s worst epidemic surpasses all the military deaths in World War I and World War II combined. And it may have begun in the United States

BBC's "Downton Abbey" is one of the rare aspects of popular culture to show the grim costs of the 1918 flu pandemic.

The Next Pandemic

Why Did So Few Novels Tackle the 1918 Pandemic?

Surprisingly few U.S. writers touched by the 1918 pandemic wrote about it. But flu lit appears more popular today than ever

A woman sells live poultry at the market in Gaosheng Township, where Long purchased chickens and later died from bird flu.

The Next Pandemic

Is China Ground Zero for a Future Pandemic?

Hundreds there have already died of a new bird flu, putting world health authorities on high alert

The influenza ward at Walter Reed Hospital during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918

The Next Pandemic

Ten Famous People Who Survived the 1918 Flu

The notables who recovered from the pandemic included a pioneer of American animation, world-famous artists and two U.S. presidents

A CDC scientist harvests H7N9 virus that has been grown for sharing with partner laboratories for research purposes.

The Next Pandemic

What’s In Your Flu Shot?

An influenza expert at Johns Hopkins University explains how the cocktail for this year’s flu vaccine was developed

Yes, oysters can get herpes.

Oysters Can Get Herpes, And It’s Killing Them

A deadly virus threatens to decimate oyster populations around the world

An image of cells showing Zika virus (highlighted green) targeting the cancerous stem cells (highlighted red) of a human glioblastoma tumor

New Research

How Zika Virus Could Be Used to Fight Brain Cancer

The same properties that make Zika virus devastating to fetal brains could be turned against cancer cells

This is an illustration, not a picture, of a virus, because viruses are super small. But a new "VirusCam" promises to be able to see and track individual viruses, potentially leading to breakthroughs for human health.

“VirusCam” Can Watch Individual Viruses to (Someday) Keep You From Getting Sick

Viruses are tiny and hard to see, but a new microscope can track them individually to try to better prevent disease

The early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic were marked with stigma and confusion.

Trending Today

This Was the First Major News Article on HIV/AIDS

The epidemic’s early days were perplexing and terrifying

A nurse suits up in Liberia before entering an Ebola red zone in 2015. Now, a single case of Ebola has been confirmed in Congo by the World Health Organization.

Trending Today

Ebola Returns to the Democratic Republic of Congo

A single death has been confirmed—now public health officials must keep an outbreak from becoming an epidemic

How a Soap Opera Virus Felled Hundreds of Students in Portugal

The “Strawberries With Sugar” outbreak is just one example of mass hysteria, which goes back centuries

The journals that scientists consider most prestigious are often in English.

New Research

English Is the Language of Science. That Isn’t Always a Good Thing

How a bias toward English-language science can result in preventable crises, duplicated efforts and lost knowledge

The better to infect you with, my dear...

New Research

For Viruses, the Best Way to Infect Baby Is Through Mama

Some viruses might take it easier on women—to get to their children

Heavy drinking can cause brain changes that make you want to drink more.

How a Genetically Engineered Virus Could Help the Brain Fight Alcohol Cravings

Heavy drinking can change the brain to make cravings worse. Can gene therapy change it back?

Researchers fear that these normal monk seal encounters could soon grow deadly.

Why Rare Hawaiian Monk Seals Are Lining Up to Get Their Shots

Fearing devastating disease, researchers are vaccinating a wild marine mammal for the first time

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