Epidemics & pandemics

General websites

For the latest information about the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, please visit Unite Against COVID-19, the official website from the Government of New Zealand.

The websites below will show you where to find information about different types of epidemics, their causes, and treatments.

Britannica School

Britannica School is part of EPIC, a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this.

• Select the middle level and type a keyword such as 'epidemic' into the search box.

• Explore the link epidemic (pathology) to find out about types of epidemics. Check out the excellent table on major historical epidemics.

• Have a look at epidemiology (medicine) to find out about the search for the cause of a disease.

• Remember to explore the images, videos and related articles to find out more about these topics.

Health and Wellness (Gale)

This EPICdatabase has trustworthy answers to health and medical questions.

• Scroll down the page and select the topic Diseases and Conditions and explore different epidemics or pandemics such as AIDS, Coronavirus, Influenza and Plague.

• Choose the Browse topics icon from the home page to look at Epidemiology and find out how scientists investigate health issues.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6 pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

World Health Organisation (WHO)

The World Health Organisation (WHO for short) is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.

• Choose the tab at the top of the page called Health Topics and select All topics to explore the diseases covered by this site.

• Look at Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to find advice on how to protect yourself. Check out the Q&A section.

• Select Ebola virus disease to read about outbreaks. Get an overview, understand the symptoms and treatments and find news articles and pictures. Choose fact sheets to get information in a handy layout.

• Pick Smallpox to research a disease which has been eradicated.

• Read aboutVaccines to explore one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases.

• Other tabs allow you to discover the work WHO does by Countries or by what Emergencies are happening in the world.

Tips: Some websites have .au, .nz, .uk or other codes in their url. This can tell you which country this website comes from. The code .int is used for international organisations. You can check the About us link on the website for more information.

New Zealand sites

These websites have information about the history of epidemics and pandemics in New Zealand. Also included is a current website that offers advice and information on how everyone can stay safe during an outbreak of COVID-19.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we scroll down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

• Scroll down the page to the section on Social Connections.

• Select Health from the range of topics, then Epidemics.

• Check out the history of epidemics in New Zealand, including typhoid, influenza and polio.

• Remember to explore External links and sources to find other useful websites with information on this topic. One example is the history of The 1918 influenza pandemicin New Zealand.

Ministry of Health (MOH)

The Ministry of Health (MOH for short) is a government website concerned with improving, promoting and protecting the health of New Zealanders.

• Choose the tab at the top of the page called Our work then select Diseases and conditions and explore the topics.

• Check out COVID-19 to find out the current situation on this disease.

• Select HIV and AIDS to get information on these illnesses.

• Explore Immunisation to find out how this can protect people against harmful infections.

Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.

DigitalNZ

DigitalNZ is a search site that focuses on New Zealand history and brings together results from lots of different websites. It’s an easy way of searching online resources from New Zealand libraries, museums, universities and government sites all at once, and has lots of primary sources.

• Type the keywords 'epidemic' or 'pandemic' into the search box.

• Use the tabs at the top of the results to limit them to images, videos, newspapers, articles and research papers.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg epidemic. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

Unite against COVID-19

This website was put together in 2020 by the Ministry of Health in New Zealand to provide people with all the information they need on the COVID-19 pandemic, including updates, and who to contact if you are stressed or worried.

• There are tabs at the top of the page with important information, like Alert Levels and updates, and information about Health and wellbeing.

• Explore the site to learn about ideas like self-isolation and understand ways we're uniting against COVID-19.

• At the bottom of the home page is a link to Contact and support information, including helplines if you would like to talk with someone about how you're feeling.

Books

There are lots of books written about epidemics — check your school library or public library for some titles.

Here are some we recommend:

• Get well soon : history's worst plagues and the heroes who fought them by Jennifer Ashley Wright

• Flu hunter : unlocking the secrets of a virus by Robert G Webster

• Black November: the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand by Geoffrey Rice

• Pandemics : a very short introduction by Christian W McMillen.

SCIS no: 1970176