patient zero
First infected person
Patient zero is the first person identified as infected in an outbreak of disease—the case from which epidemiologists trace transmission.
The term has spread beyond medicine: She was patient zero for the trend, meaning the origin point from which something spread.
The phrase emerged from early AIDS research, though based on a misreading of "Patient O" (for "Outside California").
Sudden eruption of trouble
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- spreadTo distribute widely
- transmissionSending of information
infection · contagion · vector · carrier · host · quarantine · incubation · pathogen
Tracking disease spread connections
- super-spreaderHighly contagious transmitter
- disease vectorOrganism spreading pathogens
- outbreak investigationSystematic search for disease source
- spillover eventPathogen enters new host species
Point of creation
- epicenterPoint above seismic origin
- sourcePoint of origin
- beginningInitial stage of something
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
progenitor · birthplace · fountainhead · starting point · baseline · cradle · inception · point of origin
Tracking disease spread connections
- detective workSystematic inquiry into mysteries
- outbreak investigationSystematic search for disease source
- backtracingFollowing something to origin
Infectious but symptom-free spreader
- AIDS epidemicMass spread of immunodeficiency
- blameAssign responsibility for wrongdoing
- stigmaMark of dishonor
- scapegoatUnfairly blamed person
outbreak
Sudden eruption of trouble
transmission · infection · contagion · vector · carrier · host · quarantine · incubation · pathogen · virus
contact tracing
Tracking disease spread connections
- super-spreaderHighly contagious transmitter
- disease vectorOrganism spreading pathogens
- outbreak investigationSystematic search for disease source
genesis
Point of creation
root · progenitor · birthplace · fountainhead · starting point · baseline · cradle · inception · point of origin
contact tracing
Tracking disease spread connections
- detective workSystematic inquiry into mysteries
- outbreak investigationSystematic search for disease source
- backtracingFollowing something to origin
Typhoid Mary
Infectious but symptom-free spreader
- AIDS epidemicMass spread of immunodeficiency
- blameAssign responsibility for wrongdoing
- stigmaMark of dishonor
- pandemiclockdowns, COVID-19, outbreak, epidemic, COVID
- epidemic controlquarantine zone, quarantine station, disease outbreak, outbreak, epidemic
- HIV/AIDSHIV, AIDS, AIDS crisis, AIDS quilt, antiretrovirals
- Plague FictionThe Stand, World War Z, The Decameron, The Andromeda Strain, epidemic
- Zombieszombie, zombies, undead, walkers, walker
- epidemicsepidemic, pandemic, outbreak, disease, Black Death