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The burial of plague victims in Tournai. Fragment of a miniature from "The Chronicles of Gilles Li Muisis" (1272-1352), abbot of the monastery of St. Martin of the Righteous. Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 13076-77, f. 24v.

A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people) is an epidemic (an outbreak of an infectious disease) that spreads across a large region (like a continent), or even worldwide.

Common killers and pandemics

According to the World Health Organization, a pandemic exists when three conditions have been met:

A disease emerges that is new to a population.
The agent that causes the disease infects humans, causing serious illness.
The agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans.

A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people. It must also be infectious. For example, cancer causes many deaths, but it is not a pandemic because it is usually not infectious.

World Health Organization pandemic phases

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a plan to prepare the global fight against influenza. It defines the stages of a pandemic and makes recommendations about what countries should do before and during a pandemic. The phases are:

Interpandemic period:

Phase 1: No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans.
Phase 2: No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans. However, a variant of the virus causes disease in animals. This means there is a threat of human disease.

Pandemic alert period:

Phase 3: Humans get infected with a new subtype of the flu virus. However, the virus is not spreading from person to person.
Phase 4: There are small cluster(s) of flu infection. Person-to-person spread is limited and localized.
Phase 5: There are larger cluster(s) of flu infection. Person-to-person spread is still localized.

Pandemic period:

Phase 6: Pandemic: The flu has spread throughout the general population. Person-to-person spread is increased and sustained.

Related pages

References

Steward's "The Next Global Threat: Pandemic Influenza".

Other websites

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:Burying Plague Victims of Tournai.jpg|right|thumb|The [[burial]] of plague victims in Tournai. Fragment of a miniature from "The Chronicles of Gilles Li Muisis" (1272-1352), abbot of the [[monastery]] of St. Martin of the Righteous. Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 13076-77, f. 24v.]]
-[[File:Black Death.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Illustration of the [[black death]], 1411.]]
-A '''pandemic''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] παν ''pan'' all + δήμος ''demos'' people) is an [[epidemic]] (an outbreak of an [[infectious disease]]) that spreads across a large region (for example a continent), or even worldwide.
+A '''pandemic''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] παν ''pan'' all + δήμος ''demos'' people) is an [[epidemic]] (an outbreak of an [[infectious disease]]) that spreads across a large region (like a [[continent]]), or even worldwide.
 == Common killers and pandemics ==
-According to the [[World Health Organization]], a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:
+According to the [[World Health Organization]], a pandemic exists when three conditions have been met:
-* the emergence of a disease new to the population.
+* A disease emerges that is new to a [[population]].
-* the agent infects humans, causing serious illness.
+* The agent that causes the disease infects humans, causing serious illness.
-* the agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans.
+* The agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans.
-A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. For example [[cancer]] is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic because the disease is not infectious (although certain causes of some types of cancer might be).
+A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people. It must also be infectious. For example, [[cancer]] causes many deaths, but it is not a pandemic because it is usually not infectious.
 == World Health Organization pandemic phases ==
-The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) has developed a plan to prepare globally the fight against [[influenza]]. It defines the stages of a pandemic and makes recommendations for national measures before and during a pandemic. The phases are:
+The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) has developed a plan to prepare the global fight against [[influenza]]. It defines the stages of a pandemic and makes recommendations about what countries should do before and during a pandemic. The phases are:
 Interpandemic period:
 * Phase 1: No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans.
-* Phase 2: No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans, but an animal variant threatens human disease.
+* Phase 2: No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans. However, a [[Variant (biology)|variant]] of the virus causes disease in animals. This means there is a threat of human disease.
 Pandemic alert period:
-* Phase 3: Human infection(s) with a new subtype but no human-to-human spread.
+* Phase 3: Humans get infected with a new subtype of the flu virus. However, the virus is not spreading from person to person.
-* Phase 4: Small cluster(s) with limited localized human-to-human transmission
+* Phase 4: There are small cluster(s) of flu infection. Person-to-person spread is limited and localized.
-* Phase 5: Larger cluster(s) but human-to-human spread still localized.
+* Phase 5: There are larger cluster(s) of flu infection. Person-to-person spread is still localized.
 Pandemic period:
-* Phase 6: Pandemic: increased and sustained transmission in general population.
+* Phase 6: Pandemic: The flu has spread throughout the general population. Person-to-person spread is increased and [[wikt:sustained|sustained]].
-== Other pages ==
+==Related pages==
 * [[Epidemic]]
 * [[List of epidemics]]
-== Reference ==
+== References ==
 <references/>
 * Steward's "The Next Global Threat: Pandemic Influenza".
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
 * [http://www.who.int/en/ WHO - Authoritative source of information about global health issues]
 * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4381924.stm Past pandemics that ravaged Europe]
-* [http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic/phases.htm CDC: Influenza Pandemic Phases]
+* [https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic/phases.htm CDC: Influenza Pandemic Phases]
 * [http://www.pandemicflu.gov U.S. government's pandemic flu and avian flu information site]
 [[Category:Infectious diseases]]
+[[Category:Epidemiology]]
-[[af:Pandemie]]
-[[ar:جائحة]]
-[[an:Pandemia]]
-[[ast:Pandemia]]
-[[az:Pandemiya]]
-[[be:Пандэмія]]
-[[be-x-old:Пандэмія]]
-[[bs:Pandemija]]
-[[bg:Пандемия]]
-[[ca:Pandèmia]]
-[[cs:Pandemie]]
-[[cy:Pandemig]]
-[[da:Pandemi]]
-[[de:Pandemie]]
-[[et:Pandeemia]]
-[[en:Pandemic]]
-[[es:Pandemia]]
-[[eo:Pandemio]]
-[[eu:Pandemia]]
-[[fa:همه‌گیری جهانی]]
-[[fr:Pandémie]]
-[[gl:Pandemia]]
-[[ko:범유행]]
-[[hi:विश्वमारी]]
-[[hr:Pandemija]]
-[[id:Pandemik]]
-[[is:Heimsfaraldur]]
-[[it:Pandemia]]
-[[he:מגפה]]
-[[ka:პანდემია]]
-[[la:Pandemia]]
-[[lv:Pandēmija]]
-[[lt:Pandemija]]
-[[ln:Pandemia]]
-[[hu:Pandémia]]
-[[ms:Pandemik]]
-[[nah:Cocoliztli īpan mochīuh nepapan āltepētl]]
-[[nl:Pandemie]]
-[[ja:パンデミック]]
-[[no:Pandemi]]
-[[nn:Pandemi]]
-[[oc:Pandèmia]]
-[[pnb:وبا]]
-[[pl:Pandemia]]
-[[pt:Pandemia]]
-[[ro:Pandemie]]
-[[ru:Пандемия]]
-[[sah:Пандемия]]
-[[sq:Pandemia]]
-[[si:මහා වසංගත]]
-[[sk:Pandémia]]
-[[sl:Pandemija]]
-[[sr:Пандемија]]
-[[sh:Pandemija]]
-[[fi:Pandemia]]
-[[sv:Pandemi]]
-[[tl:Pandemya]]
-[[ta:உலகப் பரவல் தொற்று]]
-[[te:విశ్వమారి]]
-[[th:โรคระบาดทั่ว]]
-[[tr:Pandemi]]
-[[uk:Пандемія]]
-[[vi:Đại dịch]]
-[[war:Pandemya]]
-[[zh:瘟疫]]