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.