A field researcher holds a male bat that was trapped in an overhead net as part of an effort to find out how the animals pass Nipah virus to humans. The animal will be tested for the virus, examined and ultimately released. Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption
On Jan. 23, 2020, as the coronavirus spread in China, residents of Wuhan, where it was first identified, donned masks to go shopping. The U.S. didn't officially endorse masks as a preventive measure for the public for a number of weeks. Stringer/Getty Images hide caption
Thinking about the next pandemic keeps lots of researchers busy. Peter Zelei Images/Getty Images hide caption
A nurse enrolls a participant in an HIV vaccine trial in Masaka, Uganda, an African-led project. Luke Dray/Getty Images hide caption
A mother and her son play in the sea at Liido Beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. Despite decades of conflict and ongoing security threats, some Somalis are carving out a middle-class lifestyle in the Somali capital. Luke Dray for NPR hide caption
A man pulls a child past a Lunar New Year decoration on display at the Qianmen pedestrian shopping street, a popular tourist spot in Beijing, on Tuesday. Andy Wong/AP hide caption
In hopes of getting a better sense of which SARS-CoV-2 variants might be coming into the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded its voluntary testing of some passengers exiting from international flights at certain airports. Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption
An self-portrait of Deena Mohamed, author of the graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik — a fantasy story of making wishes in modern-day Egypt. Deena Mohamed hide caption
A gravedigger prepares to bury the coffin of a baby who died of COVID-19, at a cemetery in Bandung, Indonesia. Rates of childhood mortality are notably high in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, but it is a worldwide concern. Timur Matahari/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist. Last month she announced that her donations since 2019 have totaled more than $14 billion and helped fund around 1,600 nonprofits. But as much as the scale, it is her untraditional style of giving that is causing a stir. Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption