if an epidemic caught hold

[GoodTaste]

Does "if an epidemic caught hold" mean "if an epidemic hit hard"?

There is an idiom "catch hold of", meaning to grasp or grip. So "caught hold" might mean "grip us". I am not sure.


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The scenario coincided with the launch of an Oslo-based foundation to develop and distribute vaccines for emerging infections, called the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It has received funding from the Gates Foundation, the UK biomedical charity Wellcome and countries including Japan and Germany. At the same time, Morhard and his colleagues set about building a network that would coordinate logistics and regulations globally, such as those associated with the use of potential new treatments, if an epidemic caught hold. “We were working on that when this pandemic hit,” Morhard says. “But it’s become clear that all the things we worked on were not commensurate to what we need.”

Source: Nature 04 AUGUST 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02277-6

 

[GoesStation]

Does "if an epidemic caught hold" mean "if an epidemic hit hard"?

There is an idiom "catch hold of", meaning to grasp or grip. So "caught hold" might mean "grip us".

You found a definition. Does it say anything about the degree to which the gripping occurs?

Don't read more into words than they say.

 

[GoodTaste]

Just "grip us" then?

 

[GoesStation]

Just "grip us" then?

Yes.

 

[GoesStation]

Just "grip us" then?

On second thought, no. Does your definition of "take hold" mention who the action affects?

"If an epidemic caught hold" means If an epidemic were to become established.

 

[GoodTaste]

"If an epidemic caught hold" means If an epidemic were to become established.

That was what I meant. We humans get trapped/caught hold by the pandemic. Only a very few countries have controlled the epidemic in their lands.