infectious disease

American  

[in-fek-shuhs di-zeez] / ɪnˈfɛk ʃəs dɪˈziz /

noun

1. a disease caused by a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism, and often spreading by contact between individuals or by a vector such as an insect: ID

   Chicken pox and cholera are infectious diseases.

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infectious disease Scientific  

1. A disease caused by a microorganism or other agent, such as a bacterium, fungus, or virus, that enters the body of an organism.

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Etymology

Origin of infectious disease

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

infectious disease

Its return as a significant threat illustrates how difficult it can be to predict which infectious disease will drive the next major outbreak.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

To quote infectious disease expert Jake Scott of Stanford Medicine, “every vaccine given at a baby’s two-month visit adds up to about half a teaspoon. A 20-ounce soda bottle is more than 200 times that.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

UK holidaymakers are being warned about a nasty infectious disease called cyclosporiasis that can cause explosive diarrhoea, after a sharp rise in cases.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Its rapid spread illustrates a new normal in the U.S., where falling vaccination rates have made more communities vulnerable to the highly infectious disease that the country declared eliminated more than 25 years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Both involved quarantines—the practice of isolating someone with a highly infectious disease from the healthy population.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French