Disease Detectives

Vector
An animal that carries a disease; ex. bird, mosquito

Vaccine
A medicine you get before the virus to be protected from it; scientists insert a weakened type of
that pathogen they hope to ward off and your immune system learns how to attack it and such

Epidemiologist
A person that studies the diseases and the infectious agent.

Antibody
The cells that fight against the infectious agent.

Contagious
A disease that can spread easily from one person to another.

Epidemiological Triad
An agent, a host, and what brings them together (Environment)

Agent
What causes the disease

Host
Who gets the disease

Epidemiology
The occurrence and non-occurrence of a disease within a population

Population
The number of people in an area or region

Sample
A part or portion of something

Hypothesis
An educated guess; an "if" or "then" statement

Virus
Particles that can only reproduce or survive by taking over a cell; ex. AIDS, cold; Preventable
with vaccinations or anti-viral drugs NO antibiotics

Bacteria
Unicellular; multiply by cell diversion; ex. Anthrax, Botulism; treatable with antibiotics
Fungus
Cell Wall and Membrane include molds and yeast; ex. Athlete's Foot or Ringworm; Sometimes
antibiotics work but not always

Protozoa
Single cell organisms capable of rapid movement; ex. Chagas Disease or Malaria; treatable with
antibiotics

Prion
Smallest organism there is; made of only protein resistant to heat and disinfectants; ex. Mad Cow
Disease or Creutzfeldt- Jacob Disease; NO known treatment

Helminth
Any wormlike or worm animal; ex. Hookworm or Tapeworm; medications to kill the worms

Reservoir
A species of organism that causes another organism to get sick

Endemic
A disease that is under control in an area

Epidemic
A disease that is above the number of expected cases in a wide area

Pandemic
An epidemic of a country, region, etc.

Descriptive Epidemiology
Study of the distribution of a disease or other health-related conditions

Disease Distribution
The pattern of how a sickness is spread in a population of people.

Risk Factor
Factors that cause the disease

Incubation Period
The time between when the disease is prescribed to the end of the disease.

Modes of Transmission
The factors and/or people that can give you the disease; ex. touch and air
Antibiotic

Treatment given to stop the bacteria, Protozoa, or Fungi.

Pathogen
The infectious agent; Prion, Virus, Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa, Parasite, and Helminths

Robert Koch
Created the Koch's Postulate

Koch Postulate
Take a sample of a disease, see what grows, take more samples on healthy animals, and see what
happens

Fomite
The material contaminated; keyboard, etc.

Zoonosis
Disease from an infected animal; ex. giardia, salmonella

Alexander Fleming
Created Penicillin (First antibiotic) in 1927

Parasite
A living organism that depends on another organism to survive; ex. mosquito, spider

Vector Transmission
Pathogens transmitted from an animal to a person

Prevalence
Proportion of host population infected
at a given time

Epi-Curve
A histogram displaying frequency of a disease

Important Things to Remember

USEPA-United States Environmental Protection Agency
CDC-Centers for Disease Control

Food-borne Illness, Food Poisoning

Contamination of food that harms people who eat it ex. unpasteurized milk