Epidemics and Pandemics - The Atlantic

Epidemics and Pandemics

How America’s Fire Wall Against Disease Starts to Fail

Katherine J. Wu

January 22, 2025

A vaccine syringe replaces the needle on an illustration of a compass.

The Atlantic Daily

How Worried to Be About Bird Flu

January 15, 2025

Swabbing a rooster to test for avian influenza

A Secret Way to Fight Off Stomach Bugs

January 14, 2025

Grainy black and white footage of someone washing there hands with soap, then women washing their hands at a communal sink in a bathroom

Should You Be Prepping for Trump?

January 13, 2025

Collage of Donald Trump’s head peering over a wooden fence as a family hides in an underground bunker

Bird Flu Is a National Embarrassment

Katherine J. Wu

January 10, 2025

The Anti-Social Century

February 2025 Issue

Illustration of a person sitting on stool and eating alone at diner counter, surrounded by empty tables with no other people visible.

The Atlantic Daily

Twelve Stories You Won’t Want to Miss

Mary Stachyra Lopez

December 22, 2024

America’s Bird-Flu Luck Has Officially Run Out

December 19, 2024

Birds superimposed over a vintage map of the United States

A Mysterious Health Wave Is Breaking Out Across the U.S.

December 19, 2024

An image of the Statue of Liberty with an X-ray over her chest

Revenge of the COVID Contrarians

November 25, 2024

RFK Jr's face behind stripes of translucent red circles

We’re About to Find Out How Much Americans Like Vaccines

November 20, 2024

A vaccine syringe swings back and forth between red and blue.

The Sanewashing of RFK Jr.

November 14, 2024

A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in shadows

How Donald Trump Won Everywhere

November 6, 2024

Illustration showing red dots raining on Trump

Revenge of the Office

October 2, 2024

An office chair with a lasso looped around the bottom

Malcolm Gladwell, Meet Mark Zuckerberg

November 2024 Issue

a silhouette of a face looking at a computer with hands covering its eyes against a light blue background

Public-Health Officials Should Have Been Talking About Their Sex Parties the Whole Time

Kristen V. Brown

September 20, 2024

photo of Jay Varma

Why Didn’t Facing a Common Enemy Bring Us Together?

Francis S. Collins

September 15, 2024

A virus with a red person and a blue person running from it in opposite directions

Does Kamala Harris Believe in Evolution?

September 12, 2024

Two candidates at podiums, one red and one blue, stand behind two broken beakers

It Matters If It’s COVID

Rachel Gutman-Wei

September 4, 2024

A hand drops liquid from a dropper onto a COVID test.

When Victimhood Takes a Bad-Faith Turn

August 27, 2024

Collage of faces on a blue background

How Risky Is COVID for an 81-Year-Old?

Rachel Gutman-Wei

July 17, 2024

President Joe Biden speaks in front of microphones.

The First Three Months

July/August 2024 Issue

How Much Worse Would a Bird-Flu Pandemic Be?

Katherine J. Wu

June 7, 2024

a triptych showing ducks, a vaccine syringe, and pigs

Why Extreme Syphilis Symptoms Are Showing Up Now

Rachel E. Gross

June 2, 2024

an old medical illustration of eyes

Cows Have Almost Certainly Infected More Than Two People With Bird Flu

Katherine J. Wu

May 23, 2024

a silhouetted person in a barn

The Bird-Flu Host We Should Worry About

Katherine J. Wu

May 20, 2024

a pig silhouetted against a backdrop of flu viruses

America’s Infectious-Disease Barometer Is Off

Katherine J. Wu

April 30, 2024

Cows graze on a dairy farm

What the Author of Frankenstein Knew About Human Nature

April 26, 2024

A portrait of Mary Shelley

Why Did Cars Get So Expensive?

April 21, 2024

Graphic arrow pushing garage door open, revealing car inside

When Experts Fail

March 22, 2024

A montage showing the faces of various experts and politicians together with newsprint excerpts about COVID-19.

It’s Not the Economy. It’s the Pandemic.

George Makari and Richard A. Friedman

March 21, 2024

Collage of Donald Trump, Joe Biden, a masked health-care worker, a person protesting vaccine requirements, a person holding their head in their hands, coronavirus particles, and a jagged arrow pointing downward

Work In Progress

America’s Loneliness Epidemic Comes for the Restaurant

March 8, 2024

Takeout on a silver platter

The Atlantic Daily

America’s False Virus Equivalence

March 6, 2024

A white gloved hand holds a COVID-19 virus

The Pandemic’s ‘Ghost Architecture’ Is Still Haunting Us

February 29, 2024

An illustration of a tattered sticker with footprints and the text "keep your distance"

One Reason Hybrid Work Makes Employees Miserable

February 29, 2024

A photo of two stacks of paper, one short and one tall

Why Are We Still Flu-ifying COVID?

Katherine J. Wu

February 28, 2024

A circle of coronavirus particles in different shades of gray