02/28/2026
Why is the zebra the symbol of rare diseases? 🦓
In medicine, doctors are often taught: “When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.”
In other words, look for common conditions first.
But sometimes… it really is a zebra.
The zebra also reminds us that no two zebras have the same pattern of stripes, just like no two rare disease journeys are the same.
A disease is considered rare when each individual condition affects fewer than 1 in 2,000 people. Yet there are more than 7,000 rare diseases, and when taken together they affect millions of families around the world.
In the United States alone, it is estimated that about 1 in 10 people live with a rare disease and many more are still undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
Rare diseases may be individually rare, but together they are not.
Today we help make rare visible.
đź’› Share to raise awareness.
MakeRareVisible HakunaMatataSpecialNeeds AdaptiveLiving InclusionMatters
