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The Conversation USA

What's the difference between pandemic, epidemic and outbreak?

  • Written by Rebecca S.B. Fischer, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Texas A&M University
It's a matter of scale.(Edward A. "Doc" Rogers/Library of Congress via AP

The coronavirus is on everyone’s minds. As an epidemiologist, I find it interesting to hear people using technical terms – like quarantine or super spreader or reproductive number – that my colleagues and I use in our work every day.

But I’m also...

Read more: What's the difference between pandemic, epidemic and outbreak?

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