Lab 33: Simulated Epidemic

Lab 33: Simulated Epidemic

1. Epidemic (level)=  the incidence of a disease in a population at greater than expected levels 

2. Endemic (level)= the expected low level of a disease  

-disease can transition from endemic to epidemic levels for a variety of reasons 

3.Pandemic=  when a disease travels globally and affects people on several continents

ex. influenza, AIDS

4. Epidemiology= field of science dedicated to studying the location and timing of diseases and how they spread

-using this info, epidemiologists can gather data to better understand diseases, in the hopes of controlling or preventing them

-one specific job they have is to find source of disease outbreaks, can be common sources like contaminated food, water, or a person

5. Index Case=  the first person to have a disease which has lead to an outbreak 

-In this lab, we simulated spread of an Epidemic by direct contact- handshaking, and tried to find index case 
--during data collection only half of the class cultured after the first round of handshaking- we did this bc, during the beginning of an outbreak it is rare for Epidemiologists to have all cases 

-Micrococcus luteus= bacteria used in our “outbreak”

       -grows yellow colonies when grown on agar 

Plate1 (on left)= Positive for Micrococcus luteus- its yellow

Plate 9 (on right) = Negative -small random colonies (not yellow)

Closer look at Micrococcus luteus