Typhoidland
2020 Typhoidland Launch Invite, Bodleian Libraries, History of Science Museum, Museum of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
2022 Typhoidland Exhibit David J. Sencer CDC Museum, Atlanta, USA.
The Second Typhoidland Animation: The Tragic Tale of Mary Mallon (Animator: Ben Leighton)
Promotion "Typhoid, Cockles, and Terrorism" exhibition with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), Dublin City Library & Archive (DCLA), UCD Archives (2024)
Typhoidland Team in Dublin: Claas Kirchhelle, Carly Collier, Clare Foley (Graphic Novel Illustrator), Emily Webster, Samantha Vanderslott
Typhoid is a major threat that annually sickens over 14.3 million and kills at least 135,000 people – many of whom are children. Running between 2019 and 2024 and supported by the New Venture Fund, AHRC, and IRC, Typhoidland is a critically-acclaimed international research and engagement project that challenges the myth of typhoid as a disease of the past, raises awareness about antimicrobial resistance, and analyses past interventions to inform current control efforts.
Research:
Since 2019, the Typhoidland team have conducted interdisciplinary research on the past and present of sanitary control, vaccine development and trials, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In 2019, we published findings on the long-term factors impacting control and challenges posed by AMR in Clinical Infectious Diseases. A popular history book on 200 years of typhoid control appeared with Scala in 2022. We have also published findings on the institutionalised precarity of manual scavengers in India in BMJ: Global Health (2022) and review of the increasingly narrow vaccine-based focus of typhoid interventions was published in Lancet Infectious Diseases (2023). A full list of our team's numerous blogs and research articles on typhoid control can be found here.
A research database containing Dr Emily Webster's neighbourhood-level reconstruction of historical enteric fever burdens in Dublin and hydrological reconstruction of sewage flows in Dublin Bay was deposited with Oxford's Sustainable Scholarship Scheme.
Engagement:
Physical and virtual exhibitions based on our research launched in Oxford (2020) with a focus on the character of Alice Liddell ("Alice in Wonderland") and the history of typhoid control via sanitation and vaccination; in Atlanta's CDC Museum (2022) with a focus on the tragic biography of Irish emigrant Mary Mallon ('Typhoid Mary') and the ethical dilemma of carrier control; and in Dublin (2024) with a focus on the city's unofficial anthem "Alive, Alive Oh" and its links to foodborne typhoid outbreaks and contaminated hydrological environments. An additional research strand ("Contours of a Taboo") focused on the '1920 Sinn Féin typhoid plot' as one of the earliest documented bioterrorism allegations.
In 2023, we designed three Indian exhibitions on the (post)colonial legacies of imperial sanitary infrastructure, the plight of manual scavengers, and typhoid-related belief systems in Bengaluru with colleagues at St John’s Medical College (team lead Dr Manjulika Vaz). With partners in Nepal and Bangladesh, we have also developed traveling exhibits containing typhoid-related educational content and public health information for use in local clinics and schools.
In 2024, we used our historical research to publish a graphic novel: "Fear & Fever: 14 Days of Typhoid in Edwardian Dublin" (illustrated by Clare Foley) with Dublin City Library & Archive (DCLA). The novel is available open access and physical copies have been made available to all of Dublin's public libraries and for local schools.
Impact & Acclaim:
Since 2020, our hybrid Typhoidland exhibitions have attracted over half a million physical visitors and over 100,000 virtual visitors (June 2024). Our animations, educational games, and hybrid approach to engagement have received critical acclaim in the form of the BSHS Ayrton Prize (2023), a Gold Medal at the 2020 Teaching and Learning Awards, and numerous science film festivals including the Bristol Science Film Festival and the WHO Health for All Film Festival.
Team members were also invited to present research findings at the 2019 International Typhoid Conference in Hanoi, the 2020 and 2023 ASCODD conferences in Dhaka and Kolkatta, and to the WHO enteric diseases seminar in Geneva 2020. Webster's 2022 RTÉ article on climate change and the repurposing of Dublin Port was included in the 2023 Irish Leaving Certificates (A-Levels).
Find out more about the exhibition and explore our award-winning content on: www.typhoidland.org