What is the real definition of epidemic?

What is the real definition of epidemic?

1 : an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time : an outbreak of epidemic disease. 2 : an outbreak or product of sudden rapid spread, growth, or development an epidemic of bankruptcies. Other Words from epidemic Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About epidemic.

What is the difference between pandemic and epidemic diseases?

AN EPIDEMIC is a disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region. A PANDEMIC is an epidemic that’s spread over multiple countries or continents.

What is meant by pandemic?

A pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents. It affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic when it became clear that the illness was severe and that it was spreading quickly over a wide area.

When did Black Death End?

1346 – 1352

How did the Black Death get its name?

The most famous outbreak, the Black Death, earned its name from a symptom: lymph nodes that became blackened and swollen after bacteria entered through the skin. In the long-popular theory of bubonic plague, rats, gerbils or other rodents acted as bacteria banks.

What was the Black Death called in medieval times?

bubonic plague

Did rats cause the plague?

Rats were not to blame for the spread of plague during the Black Death, according to a study. The rodents and their fleas were thought to have spread a series of outbreaks in 14th-19th Century Europe.

Do rats still carry the plague?

Specifically, historians have speculated that the fleas on rats are responsible for the estimated 25 million plague deaths between 1347 and 1351. However, a new study suggests that rats weren’t the main carriers of fleas and lice that spread the plague—it was humans.

Is the Black Death a virus?

Unlike coronavirus, most scholars agree on the cause of bubonic plague. Bubonic plague is caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis. However, the culprits anthrax, hemorrhagic viral fever, and louse-borne typhus have also been credibly proposed, according to Andrew Noymer, professor of public health at UC Irvine.

What animal carries the bubonic plague?

Plague is a serious bacterial infection that’s transmitted primarily by fleas. The organism that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, lives in small rodents found most commonly in rural and semirural areas of Africa, Asia and the United States.

How was the Black Death prevented?

Prevention

  1. Fill holes and gaps in your home to stop mice, rats, and squirrels from getting in.
  2. Clean up your yard.
  3. Use bug repellent with DEET to prevent flea bites when you hike or camp.
  4. Wear gloves if you have to touch wild animals, alive or dead.
  5. Use flea control sprays or other treatments on your pets.

How do we avoid most pestilences today?

One of the ways to avoid the plague is to prevent contact with infected fleas by wearing repellent during activities such as camping, hiking, working outdoors. Avoid sick or dead animals and wear gloves when handling or skinning potentially infected animals.

How many people died over the Black Plague?

The Black Death, which hit Europe in 1347, claimed an astonishing 200 million lives in just four years.