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Chigasaki, Japan

Ochobamba

An old woman cured cholera in the 1820s and now her grave is said to be the city’s most cursed object.
Rotterdam, Netherlands

Quarantainestation Heijplaat (Heijplaat Quarantine Center)

A 20th-century naval quarantine center is now a local park.
St. Augustine, Florida

Disease Vector Education Center

The United States' only educational center specializing in disease vectors and mosquitoes.
Each air bubble says so much about life and death on Earth.
plague

Gas Trapped in Antarctic Ice Recorded the Mass Death of 56 Million People

Plagues, war, and genocide were literally frozen in time.
Meg St-Esprit March 14, 2024
A 1908 edition of the <em>Evening Star</em> newspaper covers mad stones in their various forms, and goes on to explain how scientists have found them to be "worthless."
objects of intrigue

The Tale of the Mad Stone, the One-Time 'Cure' for Rabies

Before vaccines, pseudoscientific folks remedies for the deadly virus involved mysterious animal-vegetable-mineral hybrids.
Colin Dickey March 7, 2024
Eyemouth, Scotland

Cholera Monument

A watchhouse constructed from tombstones, to make way for a burial pit, for the victims succumbing to a deadly disease.
Saranac Lake, New York

Saranac Laboratory Museum

A former infectious disease laboratory chronicles how tuberculosis shaped a village nestled in the Adirondacks.
Italian tombstone carver Luigi Brusa knew he was dying from silicosis when he had a friend carve his impressive granite tombstone, known as "The Dying Man."
graveyards

The Tombstone Sculptor Who Carved His Own Death in Granite

Nestled in Vermont’s Hope Cemetery, ‘The Dying Man’ tells the tragic tale of the area’s Italian gravestone carvers.
Alice Levitt October 3, 2023
science

Podcast: The Ark of Citrus

A sweet archive of almost biblical proportions can be found at the University of California, Riverside.
The Podcast Team September 20, 2023
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans AIDS Memorial

The neighborhood surrounding the memorial was the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in Louisiana.
rats

Podcast: APOPO Rats

An episode that might have you rethink your stance on the humble rat.
The Podcast Team August 16, 2023
Tokyo, Japan

Kimi-Chan

This sculpture bears a tragic backstory that may have inspired a hauntingly beautiful children's song.
Tuberculosis—or consumption, as it was known in the 1800s—was often associated with vampirism. Those suffering from the disease grew pale and weak, as seen in this photomontage from 1858.
vampires

The Real-Life Vampire Autopsies of the Victorian Era

When medicine and folklore collide, strange things happen.
April White October 14, 2022
Park of the Souls
Acharnes, Greece

Park of Souls

After a catastrophic forest fire, a Greek artist transformed scorched tree trunks outside an old sanatorium into this haunting sculpture garden.
Josefine Guerrero carried a map of the minefields in the north of occupied Manila to approaching U.S. troops.
spies

The Invisible, Afflicted Spy Who Led the U.S. Army Into Occupied Manila

As a woman with leprosy, Josefina Guerrero was ignored by Japanese forces as she carried messages of resistance in World War II.
April White March 7, 2022
A tiger painted on a building in Thimphu; tigers are particularly revered in Bhutan.
animals

In Bhutan, a Rare Tiger's Mysterious Illness Had a Surprising Source

Local vets collaborated with an international team to figure out why the animal was dazed and wandering near the capital city.
Madeline Bodin February 23, 2022
quarantine

Podcast: International Cocoa Quarantine Center

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team February 14, 2022
medical museums

Podcast: Centers for Disease Control Museum

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team December 2, 2021