What is a Pandemic?

CDC

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Pandemic

Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population. It becomes a pandemic when people start to get infected by people who have no traces to the infected countries or the initial epidemic center

ECDC

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

Spanish Flu

Pandemic that is beleived to have started in Kansas and was then brought over to Europe by troops. But it's named the Spanish flu because Spain a neutral country during World War openly reported on its occurrence while other countries censored or tried to hide it. This time 500 million people were infected and an estimated 50 to 100 million died.

WHO

World Health Organization

epidemiologist

a specialist in the study of outbreaks of disease within a population group

epidemic

a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.

mutated

changed in form or nature

Antonine Plague

165-180 BC. Possibly smallpox brought back from the Near East; killed a quarter of those infected and up to five million in all. 5,000 people a day were said to be dying in Rome

H1N1

A form of swine influenza virus

scientist

A person who uses the scientific method to discover new knowledge.