If you thought dangerous epidemics were stuck in history books, think again. As Zika recently showed, epidemics are still a threat in the age of modern medicine and scientists work hard to study them.
An epidemic is caused when a disease spreads over a large area, affects a large number of people at the same time and spreads faster than doctors can control. The outbreak of an epidemic can be caused by conditions like contaminated drinking water, antibiotic resistance or the migration of animals.
In this zone you’ll meet a scientist using genetics to work out why Ebola spreads in West Africa, a scientist studying sexually transmitted infections and an epidemiologist fascinated with viruses, bacteria and outbreaks. There’s a scientist trying to understand how micro-organisms are able to infect things, and another using data to track outbreaks of infections. Also in this zone is a scientist researching what being homeless and excluded feels like, the causes behind it and what can be done to help.