Africa: Tracing the History of Pandemics

analysis

Most people on the globe are very frightened of the Covid-19 pandemic which has swept across the world. It is generally believed that it started in China. Even though it has been known that other strains of coronavirus existed from the 60s, very little is known about Covid-19. People are terrified, and there has been a global shutdown of countries. There are three words which keep coming up during this time: epidemic, pandemic and endemic. Sometimes these words are used interchangeably, but they mean different things. This may cause confusion.

Epidemic means illness which spreads quickly but is confined to a specific place or region. A pandemic also spreads very quickly and is often new without known treatment but spreads across the globe. Endemic means an illness with a constant presence like malaria in Matabeleland North. It is an infection which affects a specific geographical area.

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