What Causes a ‘Pandemic’ and How Is It Different from an Epidemic?

A pandemic is when a disease spreads to many countries at once, while an epidemic is just one place. Imagine if a bug in your classroom made everyone sick, it’s like an epidemic. But if that same bug then went to every school in the world, it becomes a pandemic.

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Examples

A new virus in a classroom becomes an epidemic, then spreads across the world as a pandemic.
A flu outbreak in one city is an epidemic; if it reaches every continent, it's a pandemic.
If a sickness starts in one country and infects people on all continents, that’s a pandemic.

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Categories: Health · pandemic,epidemic,infectious disease