- common source outbreak: a disease stemming from one definable source (such as a water supply)
- emerging infectious disease: a disease that is new to the host species
- endemic disease: a disease that is always in a population
- epidemic disease: a disease that many people acquire over a short period
- epidemiology: the study of the occurance, transmission, avoidance, and cure of diseases
- incidence: the rate at which a disease appears in a population (ex. number per year)
- index case: the first case of a disease to be identified (ever or at the start of an epidemic)
- pandemic disease: an epidemic disease spread world-wide
- prevalence: the percent of a population (or the number of people) that currently have a disease
- propagated epidemic: an epidemic that is passed from agent to host (or person to person)
- sporadic disease: a disease that occurs occasionally in a population