What is an infectious disease?

Infection and modes of transmission

Judith Glynn
Infectious or communicable disease

An illness due to a specific infectious agent or

its toxic products that arises through
transmission of that agent or its products from
an infected person, animal or reservoir to a
susceptible host, either directly or indirectly
through an intermediate plant or animal host,
vector, or the inanimate environment.
JM Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, OUP 1988
 Types of transmission
Person-to-person
Actual contact
skin to skin
mucosa to mucosa
body fluids
vertical transmission mother to child

Fomites = physical objects that can carry infection

handkerchiefs, bed clothes, eating utensils

Short distance (< ~1m)

Droplets (e.g. from sneezing)

Air-borne
aerosol
 Types of transmission
Indirect

Vehicle
Food
Water

Vector
e.g. malaria (human-mosquito-human)
 Reservoirs and zoonoses
Reservoir = natural habitat of an infectious agent (can be an
animal or plant or the environment)

Zoonosis = infection transmitted from animals to man

Direct
e.g. rabies (dogs humans)
Indirect
Vector (e.g. plague: rats fleas humans)
Water (e.g. leptospirosis: rats/dogs water humans)
 Ebola
Reservoir = natural habitat of an infectious agent

Zoonosis = infection transmitted from animals to man

Direct

Indirect
 Ebola
Reservoir = natural habitat of an infectious agent
Fruit bats?

Zoonosis = infection transmitted from animals to man

Direct

Indirect
 Ebola
Reservoir = natural habitat of an infectious agent
Fruit bats?

Zoonosis = infection transmitted from animals to man

Bush meat / fruit bats
Direct

Indirect
 Ebola
Reservoir = natural habitat of an infectious agent
Fruit bats?

Zoonosis = infection transmitted from animals to man

Bush meat / fruit bats
Direct Bats fruit - humans

Indirect
 Ebola
Person-to-person

Actual contact

Fomites = physical objects that can carry infection

Short distance (< ~1m)

Air-borne
 Ebola
Person-to-person

Actual contact

Fomites = physical objects that can carry infection

Short distance (< ~1m)

Air-borne
 Ebola
Person-to-person

Actual contact

Fomites = physical objects that can carry infection

Short distance (< ~1m)

Air-borne
 Ebola
Person-to-person

Actual contact

Fomites = physical objects that can carry infection

Short distance (< ~1m)

Air-borne
 Ebola
Person-to-person

Actual contact

Fomites = physical objects that can carry infection

Short distance (< ~1m)

Air-borne