World News Health & Safety

Halloween Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Global Disease Costumes?

by NPR Staff

Plague doctors in the 1600s wore birdlike masks like these, which were thought to protect against disease.
Plague doctors in the 1600s wore birdlike masks like these, which were thought to protect against disease. Manuel Velasco / Getty Images

Shocked by someone wearing a costume inspired by the Zika virus? Don't be. People have been dressing up as infectious diseases for hundreds of years, way before trick-or-treating became an American Halloween tradition in the 1920s.

Take this quiz to see how much you know about global disease costumes of the past and present:

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