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Definition of contact tracing
: the practice of identifying and monitoring individuals who may have had contact with an infectious person as a means of controlling the spread of a communicable disease
Health authorities in all these places are working hard to find the original source, or "patient zero," using what's called contact tracing, or finding all the people the patients were in contact with … . In a highly mobile world, that's increasingly difficult. — The Salt Lake Tribune In the previous two years, two chancroid cases had been diagnosed in Massachusetts. The outbreak was terminated by intensive surveillance efforts, contact tracing, and antimicrobial treatment of both symptomatic and asymptomatic sex partners. — The Journal of the American Medical Association
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Last Updated
16 Mar 2020
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Cite this Entry
“Contact tracing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contact%20tracing. Accessed 29 Mar. 2020.
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Time Traveler for contact tracing
The first known use of contact tracing was in 1931
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