Summary: Although infectious disease outbreaks have long threatened the well-being of human societies, the realization that such epidemics and pandemics can be controlled or even prevented in the first place is recent. With advances in scientific understanding of disease and the development of technologies for the early detection of infectious agents, health agencies are better equipped for disease prevention and surveillance. This volume explores epidemic and pandemic threats and approaches to disease detection, prevention, and surveillance, relating them to concepts that lie at the foundation of STEM education. It also describes the steps readers can take to prepare for disease outbreaks