Diseases Unit 3

Disease Outbreak  A disease outbreak happens when a disease occurs in greater numbers than expected in a community, region or during a season.  Can last from days to years.  Sometimes a single disease can be considered an outbreak (if it is a new disease in a new place).

Epidemic vs. Pandemic  Both terms refer to the spread of infectious disease in a population.  They refer to the rate of infection and/or the area that is affected.  There are two main differences in the two.

Epidemic  An illness or health related issue that is showing up in more cases than would normally be expected.  It occurs when an infectious disease spreads rapidly to many people.  2003-SARS took lives of 800 people worldwide.  Malaria can reach epidemic levels in Africa, but is not a threat worldwide, so would not become a pandemic.

Pandemic  Pandemic is used to indicate a far higher number of people affected than an epidemic.  Pandemic refers to a larger region being affected (most serious case would be a global pandemic).

Pandemic  A flu strain can start out as an epidemic, but can become a pandemic (this is not unusual for a new virus because people’s immune systems have not been exposed to it and are not ready to fight it off).  Swine flu (started in Mexico City and is now in New Zealand, Israel, Scotland and many other countries).

Pandemic  The 1918 Spanish Flu and the Black Plague are extreme examples of pandemics.  Keep in mind, that a pandemic does NOT necessarily mean millions of deaths, it means that it is a geographically widespread epidemic.