5.1 What is a Pandemic?
A pandemic is an epidemic occurring worldwide, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people (Health Canada, 2018). The World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic when the growth rate of an infectious disease skyrockets, and each day cases grow more than the day prior (Columbia Public Health, 2021). Plagues are a type of infectious disease pandemic, but the term is often used in describing older pandemics like the Black Death. “The word ‘plague’ is a polyseme, used interchangeably to describe a particular, virulent contagious febrile disease caused by Yersinia pestis, as a general term for any epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality, or more widely, as a metaphor for any sudden outbreak of a disastrous evil or affliction” (Huremović, 2019, p. 8). The following section provides a more in-depth analysis of facts pertaining to, as well as the history of plagues/infectious disease pandemics (here after referred to as pandemics).
Click the link below to learn the differences between epidemics, endemics, and pandemics:
Epidemic, Endemic, Pandemic: What are the Differences?
"Epidemic refers to an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area." An epidemic disease isn't necessarily contagious (Columbia Public Health, February 19, 2021).
“A word having multiple meanings” (CollinsDictionary.com, n.d.).