communicable disease

noun

plural communicable diseases

: an infectious disease (such as cholera, hepatitis, influenza, malaria, measles, or tuberculosis) that is transmissible by contact with infected individuals or their bodily discharges or fluids (such as respiratory droplets, blood, or semen), by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, by ingestion of contaminated food or water, or by direct or indirect contact with disease vectors (such as mosquitoes, fleas, or mice)

Note: The terms communicable disease and contagious disease are often used interchangeably. However, communicable diseases such as malaria or schistosomiasis that are spread by contact with disease vectors are not typically considered to be "contagious" diseases since they cannot be spread from direct contact with another person.

Examples of communicable disease in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bagdasarian said higher percentages of immunizations helps reduce the risk for outbreaks of communicable diseases such as measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough) and chickenpox. —Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, 18 Aug. 2023

Finally, the Trump administration used the national emergency to invoke Title 42, a section of the Public Health Service Act that allows the federal government to stop people at the nation’s borders to prevent introduction of communicable diseases. —Marian Moser Jones, Fortune Well, 11 May 2023

New hires need to have first aid and communicable disease training, plus background checks and finger prints, which cost several hundred dollars. —Laura Johnston, cleveland, 10 July 2023

Additional countywide foot teams also distribute educational information on communicable diseases and hygiene kits. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2023

The history, and legal battles, behind Title 42 Title 42 gets its name from the its namesake clause of the 1944 Public Health Act, which gives the federal government the authority to block peoples’ entry into the US to prevent the spread of communicable disease. —Julia Malleck, Quartz, 10 May 2023

The policy was a pandemic-era measure that allowed Border Patrol to expel immigrants without issuing asylum hearing dates due to concerns over communicable diseases. —Julia Johnson, Washington Examiner, 17 May 2023

Title 42 stems from a 79-year-old federal law, the Public Health Service Act, and is designed, among other things, to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. —Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, 25 Apr. 2023

And then, in addition to the preparations that should have been started many years ago, there are the preparations that should have started several months ago, as soon as reports of an unknown communicable disease that could kill started coming out of China. —Michael T. Osterholm, Foreign Affairs, 9 June 2020

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Word History

First Known Use

1785, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

communicable disease

noun

: an infectious disease (as cholera, hepatitis, influenza, malaria, measles, or tuberculosis) that is transmissible by contact with infected individuals or their bodily discharges or fluids (as respiratory droplets, blood, or semen), by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, by ingestion of contaminated food or water, or by direct or indirect contact with disease vectors (as mosquitoes, fleas, or mice)

Note: The terms communicable disease and contagious disease are often used interchangeably. However, communicable diseases (as malaria or schistosomiasis) that are spread by contact with disease vectors are not typically considered to be "contagious" diseases since they cannot be spread from direct contact with another person.