News:The United States Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has said the world is on the cusp of a coronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic.
Facts:
- Recently, WHO has declared COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
About Pandemic:
- Pandemic comes from the Greek word pandemos which means everybody.
- A pandemic is defined as an epidemic occurring worldwide or over a very wide area crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people.
- However,there is no specific number of countries that a disease must touch for WHO to classify it as a pandemic.
Difference between Pandemic and Epidemic:
- Epidemic refers to an event in which a disease is actively spreading. Usually,this is an outbreak that has grown out of control but is often within one country or location.
- On the other hand, pandemic is an epidemic on a far greater geographic scale that affects a much larger number of people.
Previous cases of Pandemic:
- In 2009, the WHO had declared a global pandemic of novel influenza A (H1N1), commonly known as swine flu.
