Pandemics

What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?

The following is an excerpt from Health.com that helps explain the distinctions:

"That word—pandemic—is enough to induce widespread panic, and with good reason: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease. "A pandemic is when an epidemic spreads between countries," says David Jones, MD, PhD, a professor of the culture of medicine at Harvard University. In the grand scheme of things, a pandemic is the highest possible level of disease, or a measure of how many people have gotten sick from a particular disease and how far it has spread—but before a common illness reaches pandemic proportions, it has to exceed a few other levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Sporadic: When a disease occurs infrequently and irregularly.
Endemic: A constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infection within a geographic area. (Hyperendemic, is a situation in which there are persistent, high levels of disease occurrence.)
Epidemic: A sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease—more than what's typically expected for the population in that area.
Pandemic: An epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, affecting a large number of people."

- Source: Health.com (this information was published January 24, 2020)

Pandemics: How Diseases Spread Globally

TASK:
Watch the following 8-minute TED-Ed video for an overview of pandemics:

TASK:
Study the models below and suggest what it tells us about the dangers of diseases like avian flu. How do you think humans come into contact with different animal pathogens?

CHOOSE YOUR
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE !!!

In the section below, there are several different types of pandemics of communicable (contagious) diseases.
You can choose which case study you would like to focus on. Complete the task for the case study you select.

Option #1: Pandemic Case Study: H1N1 "Swine Flu"

TASK:

Watch the following 1-minute video to see how Swine Flu spread...
Look at the map and timeline (on right) from WHO from 2009 spread of H1N1 (a.k.a. "swine flu"). What does this suggest about 'novel' influenza viruses?
Read the following editorial article on Swine Flu outbreaks in India. What does this article suggest India needs to learn from these outbreaks?
"INSIGHTS INTO EDITORIAL: LESSONS NOT LEARNT: ON SWINE FLU"

The following is information on the 1918 H1N1 Influenza outbreak, which became a pandemic:

Trivia Question: Which killed more people--WWI, ‘The Great War’ of 1914-1918 --or-- ‘Spanish Flu' of 1918?

WSJ: 1918 Influenza (article with images)
WSJ: 100 Years Legacy of WWI (graphics)
CDC: 1918 Influenza Pandemic (article)

Option #2: Pandemic Case Study: Avian Flu

TASK:
Watch the following 1-minute video clip which shows how Google Earth is being used to map and model the spread of avian flu.

Where did the disease begin?
What type of diffusion does it follow?
What benefits come from this type of modelling?

TASK:
Watch the following 2-minute video clip from Defra on the responses on the UK to the discovery of avian flu in the UK and make notes on the advice being given

TASK:
Use the interactive bird flu map from BBC to explore the spread of avian flu since 2003.
Describe the pattern of deaths between 2003 and 2007 and discuss the risk to human health

Option #3: Pandemic Case Study: Ebola

TASK:

Read the following History of Ebola Virus Disease (CDC). At what point in history was this considered a pandemic and why?
Read/skim the following National Geographic article about the more recent outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Summer of 2019: The world's second-biggest Ebola outbreak is still raging. Here's why.
Watch the following 1-minute video to the right on the outbreak of Ebola from 2014-2016 and the impact it has on a community. What lessons were learned?