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An epidemic is a sudden illness outbreak that strikes a sizable portion of a population, community, or area. One example is the 2014 Ebola pandemic. With over 28,000 cases and over 11,000 fatalities, it was the deadliest known outbreak since 1976. The pandemic was most severe in western and central Africa.
See the fact file below for more information on Epidemic, or you can download our 25-page Epidemic worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
EPIDEMIC
- An epidemic (from Greek epi “upon or above” and demos “people”) is the fast spread of disease to a large number of patients within a specific population within a short period inside a given territory. However, the presence of an epidemic disease does not necessarily imply that it is communicable (passed on to others).
- The term epidemic is not limited to infectious diseases. It also refers to any event that results in a harmful increase in health hazards within a society.
- For example, the worldwide increase in obesity (often described as an “obesity epidemic”). Over the last three decades, the number of people in the United States with a BMI higher than the suggested norm has increased.
CAUSES OF AN EPIDEMIC
- An epidemic disease doesn’t need to be contagious, and they applied it to West Nile fever and the obesity epidemic.
- An infectious agent can undergo numerous changes that can lead to an epidemic. Among these are:
- Enhanced virulence
- Introduction to a new environment
- Variations in the host’s susceptibility to the infecting agent
- Infected food supplies, such as polluted drinking water, and the migration of populations of certain animals, such as rats or mosquitoes, which can act as disease vectors, are among the circumstances that control epidemic outbreaks.
- The seasonality of specific pathogens can cause epidemics. Seasonality can affect any of the system’s eight key elements:
- Susceptible recruitment via reproduction
- Transmission
- Acquired immunity and recovery
- Waning immunity
- Natural mortality
- Symptomatology and pathology (which can be acute or chronic, depending on the disease)
- Disease-induced mortality
- Cross-species transmission.
- Another variation exists in terms of the number of individuals afflicted and the number of people who die in successive epidemics: the severity of subsequent epidemics rises and declines over five or ten years.
TYPES OF OUTBREAK
- Common Source Outbreak – The affected individuals in a common source outbreak epidemic were exposed to a typical agent. A point source epidemic occurs when the exposure is unique, and all affected individuals get the disease during a single exposure and incubation period. A continuous or intermittent outbreak can occur if the exposure is steady or fluctuating.
- Propagated Outbreak – The disease spreads from person to person in a propagating outbreak. Affected individuals may become independent reservoirs, resulting in additional exposures.
- Many diseases will have both common sources and spread outbreak characteristics (sometimes called a mixed outbreak).
- Secondary person-to-person dissemination, for example, may occur following an everyday source exposure, or an environmental vector may disseminate a zoonotic disease agent.
TRANSMISSION
- Below are some examples of virus transmissions:
- Airborne transmission
- Arthropod transmission
- Biological transmission
- Contact transmission
- Fecal-oral transmission
- Cyclopropagative transmission
- Developmental transmission
- Propagative transmission
- Horizontal transmission
- Vertical transmission
COMMON EPIDEMICS
- Epidemics can exhibit predictable patterns, which are frequently used to monitor, predict, and limit the spread of the infection. Seasonal flu is an excellent example of this.
- Many epidemics involve contagious diseases, although there are exceptions. Here are some examples of epidemics:
- Zika virus – In 1947, scientists discovered this mosquito-borne virus in monkeys. The Zika virus began harming humans in the 1950s, but the first outbreak did not occur until 2007. It caused an outbreak in Polynesia and then in Brazil in 2014. From here it swiftly spread across the Caribbean and most of South America.
- Ebola virus – Although there have been multiple outbreaks of ebola in various African countries since the 1970s, it became an epidemic in West Africa in 2013.
- Opioids – The use of opioids in the United States has expanded considerably in recent decades, resulting in a significant increase in overdoses. Between 1999 and 2019, approximately 500,000 people died from opioid overdose. Many more people are addicted to these substances, including prescription and recreational narcotics like heroin.
- Yellow fever – The 2,000 immigrants fled the slave revolution north of the island of Santo Domingo. They swarmed the port of Philadelphia, where the city’s first yellow fever outbreak in 30 years began. The refugees and ships most likely carried the yellow fever virus and insects. Infected mosquito bites spread the illness.
- Smallpox – Between 1901 and 1903, Boston, Massachusetts, was the site of the last major smallpox outbreak in the United States. Smallpox was still common in 1966, spreading infections spanning South America, Africa, and Asia.
- Measles – It is endemic in many nations worldwide, but it is widespread in Nigeria, India, and Liberia. Measles is frequently associated with lung infection (pneumonia). People with compromised immune systems are more likely to develop a severe type of pneumonia, sometimes resulting in death.
OUTBREAK, ENDEMIC, EPIDEMIC, AND PANDEMIC
Epidemic vs. Pandemic
- A simple method to tell the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic is to recall the “P” in pandemic, which indicates that a pandemic has a passport. An epidemic that travels is referred to as a pandemic.
Epidemic vs. Endemic
- An epidemic is actively growing; new sickness cases far outnumber those expected.
- The term epidemic refers to any out-of-control problem, such as the “opioid pandemic.”
- An epidemic is frequently restricted to a region, but the number of sick people in that location is far higher than typical. COVID-19, for example, was an epidemic when it was restricted to Wuhan, China.
- Endemic, on the other hand, means a permanent presence in a given region. Malaria is found in parts of Africa, while ice is found in Antarctica.
Endemic vs. Outbreak
- An endemic may lead to an outbreak, which can happen anywhere. One example is the case of the dengue fever outbreak in Hawaii.
- An endemic can cause an outbreak, which can occur anywhere. One case in point is the dengue disease outbreak in Hawaii.
- Dengue fever is found in Africa, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Mosquitoes in these locations spread dengue illness from person to person.
- In 2019, there was a dengue fever outbreak in Hawaii, although the disease is not endemic. They suspected an infected person had visited the Big Island and been bitten by mosquitoes. The insects subsequently spread the sickness to other people, resulting in an outbreak.
Endemic Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Epidemic across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Epidemic, which is a sudden illness outbreak that strikes a sizable portion of a population, community, or area.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.
- Epidemic Facts
- Assemble Me!
- Root of an Epidemic
- World Diagram
- Types of Outbreak
- Transmission
- Epidemic Monitoring
- Health Threats
- Health Response
- What is this Epidemic?
- Editorial Cartoon
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the leading causes of epidemics?
After a natural disaster, like a storm, earthquake, or drought, there is a greater risk of getting sick. This is because there is less clean water, food sources are diminishing, the air quality could be better, and there are no places to go to the bathroom.
How many types of epidemics are there?
There are three types of epidemics: common source outbreaks, propagated, or progressive epidemics. By understanding these disease spread and transmission categories, we can better equip ourselves to prevent their occurrence in the future.
What was the biggest pandemic in history?
The Spanish Flu was a pandemic that could have caused worldwide devastation. According to the CDC, about 500 million people were infected worldwide, resulting in at least 50 million deaths and 675,000 fatalities within United States borders alone.
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Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.