ABSTRACT
The world continuously battles with the scourge of infectious disease outbreaks, some resulting in pandemics. The emergence and transmission of infectious diseases that can spread fast and across the globe have become frequent, facilitated mainly through human activities. Whether viewed as pandemics or seasonal disease outbreaks, they present serious detrimental effects on humans, animals, and the environment. These disease outbreaks occur at different times, but in most cases, the occurrence is concurrent, resulting in even more complicated public health challenges. The environmental impact may differ depending on the pathogenesis, epidemiology, and transmission pattern of a particular microbial agent. Disease outbreaks due to viruses seem to have a global reach in incidence, more than bacterial and fungal infections, as major pandemics are primarily due to viral agents. This chapter discusses specific pandemics, features, and the dimensions of their occurrences, focusing more on Africa.
