Pandemic and Epidemic

What’s the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? With the wide spread of COVID-19, people in every country are learning the difference. A pandemic is a disease that affects people across large geographical areas and affects people in disparate communities. There are no real hard and fast rules for what constitutes a pandemic, with both the World Health Organisation and the United State Centers for Disease Controls declining to give a precise definition. The word pandemic was first used in English in the 1660s, coming from the Ancient Greek pandemos (and before that πανδημία) via late Latin pandemus meaning a whole people, an entire region of people. Scientists and medical professionals use the word to define a disease that has widespread distribution and is not typically confined to a single region or group. Epidemic, by contrast, is used to define a disease that has a geographical footprint, or is confined to a certain population subgroup. Epidemic (noun) was first used in English in 1757 to mean a disease that hit a community in a temporary manner. The modern meaning is limiting, and used to distinguish diseases that are not world wide or even widespread. An elementary school, for example, can have an epidemic of chicken pox, but the community around the school is largely unaffected. The word epidemic also comes from Ancient Greek, from epidemia (επιδημία), meaning a stay in a place.The prefix epi- means in, on or around.

The measures put in place in cities, counties, states and countries around the world are intended to limit the spread of the pandemic, but more importantly, to stop epidemics of COVID-19 from happening. New York City is part of the pandemic, but is suffering from an epidemic as well.

Wash your hands people! And limit your public interactions as much as you can.

Click on the map to view the EXCELLENT map and data resources put together by Johns Hopkins University (shout out to my alma mater! Go Blue Jays!).