An epidemic is a phenomenon characterized by the occurrence of cases of a specific disease, infection, or health-related event in a population, community, or region at levels significantly exceeding the expected baseline during a defined time period. It reflects a dynamic imbalance between pathogen transmission, host susceptibility, and environmental or social determinants. Epidemics are described mathematically using measures such as the basic and effective reproduction numbers (R₀, Rₑ), incidence rates, and epidemic curves, and are driven by mechanisms including person-to-person transmission, vector-borne spread, or common-source exposure, often necessitating targeted public health interventions for containment and mitigation.
A new study suggests that the risk of mosquito-borne illness in Brazil will rise significantly by the year 2080, but that climate action could help. Katherine Heath of the Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues ...
Ecology
Sep 18, 2025
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33
Hollywood and commercial cinema often portray microbes as villains—causing deadly epidemics, fueling apocalyptic scenarios, or being weaponized for destruction. This stereotype reinforces a cultural bias known as germophobia. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 15, 2025
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23
When the next pandemic threat looms, help may come from an unexpected source: wild animals. In a new study led by Prof. Ran Nathan from the Movement Ecology Lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, researchers propose a ...
Ecology
Sep 15, 2025
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24
A study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution reveals a surprising evolutionary insight: sometimes, losing genes rather than gaining them can help bacterial pathogens survive and thrive.
Evolution
Sep 2, 2025
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44
From the COVID-19 pandemic to deadly flash floods and wildfires, disasters seldom occur in a vacuum, and a group of Northeastern University researchers is hammering that point home in a new study.
Environment
Jul 30, 2025
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26
A new study sheds light on one of the great enigmas of microbiology: why only certain strains of common bacteria become pandemic pathogens.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 30, 2025
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48
Since the mid-1800s, human activities have rapidly facilitated the spread of rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), a pathogen that infects rice, far and wide across Africa, according to a new study led by Eugénie Hébrard, at the ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 17, 2025
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80
Fungal infections are on the rise globally. According to a study by the Manchester Fungal Infection Group, in 2022, approximately 6.5 million people were infected by a pathogenic fungus, and about 3.8 million died as a result—nearly ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 26, 2025
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338
Aging populations and the tendency to lead a more sedentary lifestyle in many parts of the world are thought to dramatically increase the number of people living with multiple chronic conditions. Moreover, climate change, ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 8, 2024
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86
Recurring influenza epidemics, such as the one during World War I, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in the 2010s, and the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years have made it evident that contagious ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 7, 2023
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