viral outbreaks
Contagion spreading rapidly
Viral outbreaks are episodes when infectious diseases spread rapidly through populations.
The term applies both to localized clusters and to global pandemics: The viral outbreak overwhelmed local hospitals.
In the age of social media, "viral" has acquired a second meaning—content spreading rapidly online—so viral outbreaks occasionally describes memes or videos proliferating across platforms, though the epidemiological sense remains primary.
- spillover eventPathogen enters new host species
- transmissionSending of information
- quarantineIsolation preventing disease transmission
- case fatality rateDeaths divided by diagnoses
- lockdownEnforced restriction on movement
flatten the curve · hospital surge · patient zero · disease cluster · pathogen · zoonosis · wet market · vaccine development · antiviral drugs · isolation · travel ban · hand hygiene · superspreader · R-naught · mutation · contact tracing · mask usage · mental health crisis
- aquaculture problemsdisease, parasites, sea lice, disease spread, escapees
- stomach virusesnorovirus, rotavirus, astrovirus, adenovirus, stomach flu
viral outbreaksdisease eradication
Permanent global elimination of pathogens
zero cases · containment · epidemic control · herd immunity · remission