Definition of contact tracing
: the practice of identifying, notifying, and monitoring individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of an infectious disease as a means of controlling the spread of infection
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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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for contact tracing
The first known use of contact tracing was in 1910
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