Definitons

Thought it might be useful to keep these in mind:

Epidemic ...In epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people) occurs when new cases of a certain disease occur in a given human population, during a given period, substantially exceed what is "expected," based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during a specified period of time is called the "incidence rate"). (An epizootic is the analogous circumstance within an animal population.) In recent usages, the disease is not required to be communicable.

Not necessarily what we thought it was, eh? And then there's the word that only geeks and nerds have heard:

Pandemic: A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people) is an epidemic of infectious disease that spreads through populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide.

Both of above from Wikipedia.

Here's what Wiktionary has to say:

epidemic: Borrowed from French épidémique < épidémie, borrowed from Latin epidemia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος (epidēmios) < ἐπί (epi), “‘upon’”) + δῆμος (dēmos), “‘people’”).
Noun
Singular epidemic;
Plural epidemics epidemic (plural epidemics)
Widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population.
(Epidemiology) An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period. Antonyms: endemic

And

Adjective
pandemic: (comparative more pandemic, superlative most pandemic)

Widespread; general.
(medicine) Epidemic over a wide geographical area and affecting a large proportion of the population. World War I might have continued indefinitely if not for a pandemic outbreak of influenza.

Noun Singular pandemic, Plural pandemics
pandemic (plural pandemics) A pandemic disease

So, if the blowhards in DC and the media don't have a clue what the words mean, now we do...