In the news there always seems to be a new health-related outbreak, epidemic or pandemic - but do you actually know the difference.
Here's what you need to know to pick out the differences:
When you think of a recent outbreak, Ebola in West Africa should come to mind. "An outbreak is the sudden occurrence of a disease in a community, which has never experienced the disease before or when cases of that disease occur in numbers greater than expected in a defined area," according to Medical Express.
When the current Ebola virus surfaced in West Africa it only initially affected three countries - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The number of patients with the disease skyrocketed right away, which is why it was referred to as an outbreak at first.
Once the virus began to spread more widely it started to become an epidemic.
An epidemic is defined as "an occurrence of a group of illnesses of similar nature and derived from a common source, in excess of what would be normally expected in a community or region," by Medical Express.
The Ebola virus was an outbreak at first when it was effecting three West African countries. However, a disease like Ebola can transition to an epidemic. The disease came from a common source - West Africa - and spread to several more countries and continents, causing it to be referred to as an epidemic.
When a virus hits the pandemic level, it is at a worse state than it was when it was considered an epidemic. A spreading disease takes on the "pandemic" title once it starts spreading more thoroughly worldwide.
Ebola has not hit the pandemic level - and it's not projected to. An example of a disease that did hit the pandemic level is the spread of the H1N1 strain of the flu form 2009-2010.
From April 2009 through August 2010 there were about 18,449 deaths in over 214 countries due to the flu, reported Medical Express.
To put it in perspective, the Ebola virus, which is considered an epidemic, saw about 7,800 deaths so far, according to the World Health Organization's latest situation report.
