HOW DO YOU SEE THIS PANDEMIC?
Answers
Explanation:
pandemic is an epidemic that reaches worldwide. The World Health Organization has specific criteria for when an ...
The current worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has left many people with concerns about the spread of t
The spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was officially defined as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020Trusted Source, due to its sudden emergence an
What is a pandemic?
According to the WHOTrusted Source, a pandemic is defined as the “worldwide spread of a new disease.”
When a new disease first emerges, most of us lack the natural immunity to fight it off. This can cause a sudden, sometimes rapid, spread of the disease between people, across communities, and around the world. Without a natural immunity to fight off an illness, many people can become sick as it spreads.
The WHO is responsible for announcing the emergence of a new pandemic based on how the spread of the disease fits into the following 6 phasesTrusted Source:
Phase 1. Viruses circulating among animal populations haven’t been shown to transmit to human beings. They’re not considered a threat and there’s little risk of a pandemic.
Phase 2. A new animal virus circulating among animal populations has been shown to transmit to human beings. This new virus is considered a threat and signals the potential risk of a pandemic.
Phase 3. The animal virus has caused disease in a small cluster of human beings through animal to human transmission. However, human to human transmission is too low to cause community outbreaks. This means that the virus places humans at risk but is unlikely to cause a pandemic.
Phase 4. There has been human-to-human transmission of the new virus in considerable enough numbers to lead to community outbreaks. This kind of transmission among humans signals a high risk of a pandemic developing.