英汉词典

1. （疾病的）流行，传播
    If there is an epidemic of a particular disease somewhere, it affects a very large number of people there and spreads quickly to other areas.

    e.g. A flu epidemic is sweeping through Moscow.
           一场流感正席卷莫斯科。
    e.g. ...a killer epidemic of yellow fever.
           致命的黄热病的流行

2. （坏事的）盛行，泛滥，猖獗
    If an activity that you disapprove of is increasing or spreading rapidly, you can refer to this as an epidemic of that activity.

    e.g. ...an epidemic of serial killings...
           连环杀人现象的猖獗
    e.g. Drug experts say it could spell the end of the crack epidemic.
           禁毒专家说它可能会结束强效可卡因吸食泛滥的局面。