This year, February 29, 2012 marks the fifth international Rare Disease Day
On this day hundreds of patient organizations from more than 40 countries worldwide are organizing awareness-raising activities converging around the slogan “Rare but strong together”. Activities will take place across Europe, all the way to Russia, continuing to China and Japan, in the US and Canada, and as far as Australia and New Zealand!
Help to bring awareness to Rare Diseases by signing this petition. You can also show your support by wearing zebra stripes!
We just recently learned that zebras are symbolic for rare diseases. I will be wearing my new zebra t-shirt (thanks Threadless + GAP) and Naveen will be in black. :)
From Wikipedia:
Zebra is a medical slang term for a surprising diagnosis.[1] Although rare diseases are, in general, surprising when they are encountered, other diseases can be surprising in a particular person and time, and so "zebra" is the broader concept.
The term derives from the aphorism "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra", which was coined in a slightly modified form in the late 1940s by Dr. Theodore Woodward, a former professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.[2] Since horses are the most commonly encountered hoofed animal and zebras are very rare, logically you could confidently guess that the animal making the hoofbeats is probably a horse. By 1960, the aphorism was widely known in medical circles.[3]