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OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
BODY
CONCLUSION
REFERENCE


HEEALTH

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Epidemic Outbreak
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HEEALTH

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EPIDEMIC OUTBREAK AND THE POTENTIAL CHAOS

An epidemic is a rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given
population within a short period usually two weeks or less. An outbreak, on the other hand, 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.
An epidemic outbreak is caused by many factors which include increased stress, increase in
the density of vector species, a genetic change in the pathogen reservoir or an introduction of
an emerging pathogen to the host population. There are two types of epidemic outbreaks. The
first is common source outbreak whereby the affected individuals have an exposure to a
common agent. If the exposure is once, the outbreak is termed as point source outbreak whereas
if the exposure is continuous or variable; it is termed as continuous source outbreak. The second
type is known as a propagated outbreak. Here the disease is spread person to person who spread
it to other people.
Avian flu is a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease
in birds. It is also known as bird flu and can occur in human occasionally. However, in humans,
it is difficult to transmit from person to person. The disease causes a sixty percent mortality
rate in humans. Human acquires this disease by close contact with infected birds whether living
or dead. Contact with the H5N1 infected environment also acquires it. The virus is of high
concern since it undergoes genetic change-over-time and there is worry that it can eventually
be easily transferable to humans. The symptoms of this disease include high fever and malaise,
cough, sore throat and muscle aches. Severe symptoms are observed as th...