What is the difference between epidemic and pandemic?

Ebola would be an epidemic. The difference between a pandemic and an epidemic is the population size and locality of infection. An epidemic is a greater than normal amount of infection in a particular area or when infection occurs in an area that isn't normally associated with a certain disease. A pandemic is when the epidemic reaches to world wide proportions.

Epidemic refers to an outbreak of many infections in a particular area, town, county, etc. Pandemic means that the outbreak is happening in many countries.

leprosy is a pandemic disease

Pandemic in three countries

AIDS is a pandemic, as it is worldwide

The black death was epidemic.

DIFFERENCES -An epidemic is the outbreak of a disease in a small region, with the figures being larger than expected in the area -A pandemic is an epidemic on a global scale -An epidemic is specific to a certain time SIMILARITIES -Both are the spread of disease/infection at an unusual scale

An epidemic is when new cases of a given disease spread throughout a given population at a rate that is greater than would normally be expected. The disease in question doesn't have to be contagious to fit the definition of epidemic. As far as a pandemic goes, you might say it is an epidemic on steroids. By that I mean, that when an epidemic spreads over a large area--over a continent, several continents, or even global--it becomes a pandemic. If the number of people who are becoming sick with the epidemic disease is stable (meaning the disease is spreading over a great distance, but the number of people who are sick at any given time is remaining relatively the same), then it is not a pandemic. Finally, for a disease to meet pandemic criteria, it must be infectious.

A pandemic is a disease that spreads worldwide and is global

Epidemic means the spread of disease at the city or country level, while Pandemic is the spread at the continental level.

AIDS has been considered a pandemic.

no, it is an epidemic only.

Pandemic means global epidemic.

Pandemic: A fast spreading disease or epidemic The pandemic wiped out the entire country in 2 weeks.

epidemic, academic, nonacademic

Epidemic refers to multiple occurrences within a single given area or region, while pandemic refers to multiple occurrences in several or many different places at the same time. As in, a number of epidemics at once.

HIV infection in humans is considered pandemic by WHO. Source: Wiki

Preventing an epidemic from going pandemic is crucial to order in the city.

If an epidemic becomes widespread, it becomes a pandemic.

Currently (2009) they mean the same thing. The swine flu (A-H1N1/09) is the virus that is causing the Pandemic. Any flu can be called a pandemic flu, if it is spreading to all parts of the world and meets the other characteristics of a fast moving, wide spreading epidemic.

An epidemic is a marked rise in disease in a region affecting a localized population, while a pandemic refers to a disease outbreak that is worldwide and affects global populations. An epidemic not worldwide. For example, malaria can reach epidemic levels in regions of Africa but is not a threat globally. Whereas a flu strain can begin locally (epidemic) but eventually spread globally (pandemic). This is not unusual for a new virus, because if people have not been exposed to the virus before, their immune systems are not ready to fight it off, and more people become ill. The SARS epidemic of 2003 is an example. Swine flu started in Mexico city where it was feared to lead to epidemic proportions in North America, now that the flu has been found in New Zealand, Israel, Scotland and many other countries, it has become pandemic. The 1918 Spanish flu and the Black Plague are extreme examples of pandemics. Keep in mind, though, that a pandemic doesn't necessarily mean millions of deaths-it means a geographically widespread epidemic.

Is it a the flu epidemic or flu pandemic

The epidemic that occurred in 1919 is the Influenza Pandemic and is sometimes called The Great Pandemic because it infected 500 million people and 100 million of them died.

Yes. An epidemic refers to a disproportionatly large population infected with the same disease. A pandemic is a globally infectious disease that started as an epidemic. The World Health Orginization is currently categorizing this as an epidemic, but plans to upgrage the threat to that of pandemic proportions are coming soon.

An epidemic was reported in China in 2007-whether it could also be described as a pandemic, I don't know.