as in infection
sickness that can be passed from one person, plant, or animal to another
Parents are advised to vaccinate their children against contagious diseases.
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Recent Examples of contagious disease
Nobody has died of measles in the US since 2015, but if vaccination rates continue to decline, this highly contagious disease (one person can infect more than a dozen other people) will spread with increasing ease, which raises the risk that American kids could die.
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Dylan Scott, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Meanwhile, the development of germ theory and the discovery of antibiotics launched a series of campaigns to eradicate contagious diseases.
—Jill Lepore, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015
Cholera is a highly contagious disease that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration, and could be fatal if not immediately treated, according to WHO.
—Fatma Khaled, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2024
However, breeding did decline in the past couple of years after park managers moved all the park’s birds to protected spaces to try to keep them safe from highly pathogenic avian influenza, a highly contagious disease.
—Karen Kucher, The Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for contagious disease 
Dylan Scott, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Meanwhile, the development of germ theory and the discovery of antibiotics launched a series of campaigns to eradicate contagious diseases.
—Jill Lepore, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015
Cholera is a highly contagious disease that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration, and could be fatal if not immediately treated, according to WHO.
—Fatma Khaled, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2024
However, breeding did decline in the past couple of years after park managers moved all the park’s birds to protected spaces to try to keep them safe from highly pathogenic avian influenza, a highly contagious disease.
—Karen Kucher, The Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for contagious disease
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contagious disease
Noun
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Fungal contaminations of eye products can lead to eye infections, which can result in partial blindness or total blindness.Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 27 Dec. 2024
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Other maternal infections such as rubella and certain herpesviruses, particularly during the first trimester, are also known to harm the fetus directly, resulting in issues such as hearing loss, cerebral palsy, and autism.Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Testing at the University of Wisconsin Influenza Research Institute, a very high-level virus lab, gave mice milk from one of the infected herds.Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
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Influenza is a common respiratory virus that is categorized into four types: A, B, C and D. Type C only causes mild infections and type D is not believed to infect humans.Andy Biggs, Newsweek, 24 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Despite the challenges posed by zoonotic diseases in 2024, this year has also highlighted progress in understanding, monitoring, and responding to emerging diseases.John Drake, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
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Monica Potts: The Carter Center has been a leader in the eradication of disease around the globe — especially diseases that affected those in poverty but were otherwise curable or preventable.Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, ABC News, 30 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The 13-category scale is based on the percentage of doctor's visits that were for influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) in the previous week.Ars Technica, Ars Technica, 23 Dec. 2024
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Smith’s mother grew up in gloomy circumstances, depressed by death and illness.Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near contagious disease
Cite this Entry
“Contagious disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contagious%20disease. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.
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