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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Scanning electron microscope image of MERS
Second Floor | Temporary Exhibit

Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World

Open Until October 2022
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Viruses Connect Our World

When people move into or change an environment, microbes that cause illness can "jump" from wildlife to humans and cause disease outbreaks that can spread internationally. Tracking down and responding to these outbreaks requires coordinated detective work from people in many professions.

This 4,250-square-foot exhibition invites you to join epidemiologists, veterinarians, public health workers, and citizens as they rush to identify and respond to infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola virus, influenza, Zika virus, and others.

a mosquito
Did you know?

Fruit bats carry the Nipah virus and were connected to the 2001 outbreak of the disease that occurred in Bangladesh.

Look For

A model of a mosquito on a black background.
A giant replica of an Aedes mosquito, the type responsible for carrying Zika virus
A scrapbook showing colorful images and memories.
A scrapbook memorializing Ryan White, a teenager who died from AIDS in 1990, compiled by his mother, Jeanne White-Ginder
Photo of a skull with a black background.
A skull of a man who died in 1929 that is providing new insights into infectious diseases today
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Things To Do

  • Learn how to think like an epidemiologist—find the connections between human, animal, and environmental health in an interactive simulation.
  • Reflect on personal memories and photos from disease survivors and frontline healthcare workers.
  • Work cooperatively with other visitors to contain an outbreak before it spreads further in a multi-player game.
Transparent plastic box with six vaccine vials in it.

Vaccines in the time of Covid-19

Drawing upon the expertise of research scientists, federal agencies, and anthropologists, this weekly four-part series will demystify the production of vaccines on Tuesdays at 12:30 p.m. EDT, starting June 23, 2020.
Outbreak Webinars

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