disease outbreaks
Contagion events spreading
Disease outbreaks are sudden increases in cases of an illness within a specific area or population, beyond what's normally expected.
The term implies urgency—health officials investigate outbreaks to contain spread: The CDC responded to the outbreak within hours.
An outbreak may remain localized or expand into an epidemic or pandemic.
A measles outbreak closed three schools.
- incidenceRate of occurrence
- patient zeroFirst documented infection
- ground zeroExplosion's central impact point
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- public health emergencyDeclared population-wide medical threat
quarantine · prevalence · Black Death · case fatality rate · pathogen · zoonosis · contact tracing · superspreader · community transmission · rapid spread · isolation · reservoir · cholera outbreaks · mortality · HIV/AIDS epidemic · vector · vaccination · morbidity
- public healthimmunization, health education, epidemiology, community health, health policy
- Health Hazardsair pollution, asbestos, carbon monoxide, chemical spills, cholera
- business risksmarket risk, competition, data breach, cyberattack, recession
- medical historyHippocrates, germ theory, bloodletting, Galen, four humors
- military medicinecombat medics, combat medic, field hospitals, army surgeon, combat medicine
- regional crisespoverty, inequality, violence, crime, corruption
disease outbreaksdisease eradication
Permanent global elimination of pathogens
epidemic control · public health · herd immunity · community health · clean bill of health