3/27/2023 0 Comments Hard vocab words![]() ![]() About 270 viruses are known to infect people and cause a variety of diseases, including COVID-19, HIV and Ebola. Viruses do not have a cellular structure and their genetic material can be based from DNA or RNA. Virus: A nonliving infectious agent that requires a host to reproduce. Patient zero: The person with the first known or suspected case of infection by a pathogen that goes on to cause an epidemic or pandemic. Scientists have found that certain traits, such as a virus having genetic material made of RNA, make that pathogen more likely to cause a major outbreak of disease. Pandemic potential: The potential of a virus or other pathogen to cause a pandemic. For example, rodents are reservoirs for plague bacteria, which can then be spread to humans and other animals through a mosquito vector. Reservoir: The place where a pathogen normally lives and reproduces. For example, Anopheles mosquitoes are vectors for malaria, which is transmitted through bites. Vector: An organism that transmits a pathogen to other organisms, typically through direct contact. Host: A human or animal that is a carrier for a pathogen. Pandemic: Unexpected rapid or extensive spread of a pathogen that is no longer contained to a specific region and instead has spread across several countries or across the globe.Įndemic: An endemic pathogen maintains a consistent presence within a population or region. Epidemics are larger than a typical outbreak and typically prompt an emergency response from global health organizations. Outbreak: Rapid spread of an infection among a community.Įpidemic: Unexpected rapid or extensive spread of a pathogen that is contained to a specific area or region. Those pathogens that have been shed into the environment can often be infectious, and this is how the pathogen gets transmitted from one person to another. Shedding: The release of a virus or other pathogen from an infected person into the environment. ![]() ![]() Exposure does not always result in an infection. For example, COVID-19 has been transmitted from humans to deer and mink, among other animals.Įxposure: Contact with a pathogen. Much like spillover from animals to humans, during spillback the infected animal may or may not get sick. Spillback (reverse spillover): The transmission of a pathogen from humans to animals. Zoonoses can come from both domesticated and wild animals. Zoonoses can be spread through direct contact with an infected animal or through contaminated food or water. Zoonosis: A pathogen that has spread from animals to humans. Pathogens include viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and prions. Pathogen: An infectious agent with the potential to cause disease. In most cases, spillover does not cause the human to get sick or transmit the pathogen to other humans. Spillover: The transmission of a pathogen from an animal to a human. Farther down the list, you'll find terms that are a little bit more specialized but still are helpful in understanding the world of spillover viruses. We're starting with some of the big stuff - the most important terms to know. These terms are broadly organized with related words and concepts grouped together rather than alphabetically. So, here's a glossary of terms that you will see during our series, starting of course with "spillover." In fact, one of the doctors we interviewed for this series on spillovers asked, "What is your definition of spillover?" She wasn't exactly sure herself - and her field is infectious diseases. Don't feel as if you're out of the loop if you're not up on the terminology of spillover viruses. ![]()
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