How Museums Can Help the Public Make Sense of Pandemics

n our increasingly connected world, an outbreak anywhere is a threat everywhere. By presenting the scientific evidence as accessible storytelling and using real-world examples of SARS-CoV, Ebola, HIV, influenza and other zoonotic viruses, the “Outbreak” exhibition teaches that human activities such as global travel and trade, urbanization and industrialized food production are the drivers of epidemic and pandemic risks worldwide.