Final answer:
Insurance policies usually cover diseases that occur infrequently, known as sporadic diseases. Diseases present at consistent rates are endemic, while rapid spread of a disease in a population or globally is called epidemic or pandemic, respectively. Epidemiology is the study of disease incidence and spread, informing public health and insurance coverages.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a disease is covered by insurance, it typically refers to those illnesses that are not common or occur infrequently. Such diseases, otherwise known as sporadic diseases, include examples like tetanus, rabies, and plague. These conditions do not have high incidence rates and are not concentrated in specific geographic regions due to factors like vaccination and prevention measures. In contrast, diseases that are always present at a consistent rate within a population, like malaria in some tropical countries, are referred to as endemic diseases. If a disease was to spread rapidly among a population at the same time, it would be classified as an epidemic, and if it spread on a global scale, it would be termed a pandemic.
The field of epidemiology is crucial for understanding these patterns of disease incidence. Epidemiologists study diseases within human populations to track their occurrence, spread, and control, thereby providing vital information for public health initiatives and decisions on which diseases should be prioritized by organizations like the CDC. When it comes to insurance policies, only the diseases specified in the policy are covered, and this often correlates with the rarity or sporadic nature of the disease.