Communicable disease

Slovak term: Slovenský termín

1. An illness caused by a specific infectious agent or its toxic products and transmitted from an infected person, animal or the environment (e.g., through water, food, fomites) to a susceptible host. Transmiss can be direct or indirect (Symons et al, 2000).
2. See also : infectious disease

Explanation

The term communicable disease refers to the potentiality of transmission of pathogens from one person or species to another. Transmission of an infectious disease may occur through one or more of a range of pathways including physical contact with infected individuals. Infectious agents may also be transmitted through liquids, food, body fluids, contaminated objects, airborne inhalation, or through vectors (often insects) (WHO 2009).

Environmental determinants play a key role in the transmission of communicable diseases, as illustrated by the vector-borne diseases, whose distribution is crucially determined by the ecological conditions that support the propagation of insect vector species (WHO 2009).

References

• WHO (2009) Health impact assessment glossary: E-learning modules
• Symons JM, Bradley LC and Cleveland TC (2000) The drinking water dictionary, American
• Water Works Association.

Links

• WHO — The Health and Environment Lexicon