Glossary (P-Z)
Pandemic - an epidemic occurring over a very wide area (several countries or continents) and usually affecting a large proportion of the population
Pathogen - microorganisms that cause infections or disease; any disease-producing agent, especially a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism
Quarantine - restriction of the activities of well persons or animals who have been exposed to a case of communicable disease during its period of communicability (i.e., contacts) to prevent disease transmission during the incubation period if infection should occur
Reservoir - any person, plant, animal, arthropod, plant, soil, or substance (or combination of these) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies, on which it depends primarily for survival, and where it reproduces itself in such a manner that it can be transferred to a susceptible host
Spillover - the transfer of pathogens from one species to another (e.g., from bats to humans); the transfer of a pathogen from a reservoir population to a host population
Stigmatize - to set some mark of disgrace upon
Symptomatic - showing signs or exhibiting symptoms
Vaccine - any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production
Zoonosis - an infection or infectious disease transmissible under natural conditions from vertebrate animals to humans
Pathogen - microorganisms that cause infections or disease; any disease-producing agent, especially a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism
Quarantine - restriction of the activities of well persons or animals who have been exposed to a case of communicable disease during its period of communicability (i.e., contacts) to prevent disease transmission during the incubation period if infection should occur
Reservoir - any person, plant, animal, arthropod, plant, soil, or substance (or combination of these) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies, on which it depends primarily for survival, and where it reproduces itself in such a manner that it can be transferred to a susceptible host
Spillover - the transfer of pathogens from one species to another (e.g., from bats to humans); the transfer of a pathogen from a reservoir population to a host population
Stigmatize - to set some mark of disgrace upon
Symptomatic - showing signs or exhibiting symptoms
Vaccine - any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production
Zoonosis - an infection or infectious disease transmissible under natural conditions from vertebrate animals to humans