Editing Epidemic (section)

==Definition==

[[File:Plague in an Ancient City LACMA AC1997.10.1 (1 of 2).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''The Plague of Athens'' ({{Circa|1652}}–1654) by [[Michiel Sweerts]], illustrating the [[Plague of Athens|devastating epidemic that struck Athens in 430 BC]], as described by the historian [[Thucydides]]]]

The United States [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] defines epidemic broadly: "Epidemic refers to an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area." The term "outbreak" can also apply, but is usually restricted to smaller events.<ref name="Principles of Epidemiology" />{{rp|§1:72|location=}}<ref name="Green" />

Any sudden increase in disease prevalence may generally be termed an epidemic. This may include [[contagious disease]] (i.e. easily spread between persons) such as [[influenza]]; [[Disease vector|vector-borne]] diseases such as [[malaria]]; [[Waterborne diseases|water-borne diseases]] such as [[cholera]]; and [[Sexually transmitted infection|sexually transmitted]] diseases such as [[HIV/AIDS]]. The term can also be used for non-communicable health issues such as [[obesity epidemic|obesity]].<ref name="Green" /><ref>[https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/obesity/en/ Controlling the global obesity epidemic], the World Health Organization</ref><ref name="Martin" />

The term ''epidemic'' derives from a word form attributed to [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', which later took its medical meaning from the ''[[:s:Of the Epidemics|Epidemics]],'' a treatise by [[Hippocrates]].<ref name="Martin">{{cite journal | vauthors = Martin PM, Martin-Granel E | title = 2,500-year evolution of the term epidemic | journal = Emerging Infectious Diseases | volume = 12 | issue = 6 | pages = 976–80 | date = June 2006 | pmid = 16707055 | pmc = 3373038 | doi = 10.3201/eid1206.051263 }}</ref> Before Hippocrates, {{Transliteration|grc|epidemios}}, {{Transliteration|grc|epidemeo}}, {{Transliteration|grc|epidamos}}, and other variants had meanings similar to the current definitions of "[[Wiktionary:indigenous|indigenous]]" or "[[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]]".<ref name="Martin" /> [[Thucydides]]' description of the [[Plague of Athens]] is considered one of the earliest accounts of a disease epidemic.<ref name="Martin" /> By the early 17th century, the terms ''endemic'' and ''epidemic'' referred to contrasting conditions of population-level disease, with the endemic condition a "''common sicknesse''" and the epidemic "''hapning in some region, or countrey, at a certaine time, ....... producing in all sorts of people, one and the same kind of sicknesse''".<ref name="Lodge1603">{{cite book |last=Lodge |first=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/b3032810x |title=A treatise of the plague: containing the nature, signes, and accidents of the same, with the certaine and absolute cure of the fevers, botches and carbuncles that raigne in these times |publisher=Edward White |year=1603 |location=London |chapter= |quote=CHAP. 1. Of the nature and essence of the Plague}}</ref>

The term "epidemic" is often applied to diseases in non-human animals, although "[[epizootic]]" is technically preferable.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=2021-02-21 |title=Foot and mouth 20 years on: what an animal virus epidemic taught UK science |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/21/foot-and-mouth-20-years-on-what-an-animal-virus-epidemic-taught-uk-science |access-date=2023-09-11 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 December 2005 |title=Emergency response for epizootic diseases |url=https://www.afbini.gov.uk/articles/emergency-response-epizootic-diseases |access-date=11 September 2023 |website=Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute |language=en}}</ref>