Last updated on January 4th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
Communicable diseases are illnesses that spread from person to person through direct contact or by coming into close-proximity with an infected person. Learn about communicable diseases and the list of 86 reported communicable diseases, so you can protect yourself and others around you.
What is a communicable disease?
Quick Jump Table
A communicable disease is one that is spread from one person to another through a variety of ways that include contact with blood and bodily fluids; breathing in an airborne virus; or by being bitten by an insect.
Reporting of cases of communicable disease is important in the planning and evaluation of disease prevention and control programs, in the assurance of medical therapy, and in the detection of common-source outbreaks. Some examples of the reportable communicable diseases include Hepatitis A, B & C, influenza, measles, and salmonella and other food-borne illnesses.
Common Communicable Diseases List
There are 86 communicable diseases are reported worldwide and the following 19 are among them and majorly contributed.
- 2019-nCoV
- CRE
- Ebola
- Enterovirus D68
- Flu
- Hantavirus
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- HIV/AIDS
- Measles
- Monkeypox
- MRSA
- Pertussis
- Rabies
- Sexually Transmitted Disease
- Shigellosis
- Tuberculosis
- West Nile Virus
- Zika
Complete List of 86 Communicable Diseases Reported
- Anthrax, human or animal
- Botulism (Infant, Foodborne, Wound
- Brucellosis, human
- Cholera
- Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
- Diphtheria
- Domoic Acid Poisoning (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning)
- Flavivirus infection of undetermined species
- Foodborne Disease (when two or more cases or suspected cases of food-borne disease from separate households are suspected to have the same source of illness)
- Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
- Influenza due to novel strains (human)
- Measles (Rubeola)
- Meningococcal Infections
- Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
- Novel Virus with Pandemic Potential
- Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
- Plague, Human or Animal
- Rabies, Human or Animal
- Scombroid Fish Poisoning
- Shiga Toxin (detected in feces)
- Smallpox (Variola)
- Tularemia, human
- Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, human or animal (Crimean-Congo, Ebola, Lassa, and Marburg viruses)
- Babesiosis
- Campylobacteriosis
- Carbapenem-resistant
- Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
- Chickenpox (Varicella)
- Chikungunya Virus Infection
- Cryptosporidiosis
- Dengue Virus Infection
- Encephalitis, specify etiology (Viral, Bacterial, Fungal, Parasitic)
- Escherichia coli
- Haemophilus influenza, invasive disease
- Hantavirus Infections
- Hepatitis A, acute infection
- Listeriosis
- Malaria
- Meningitis, specify etiology (Viral, Bacterial, Fungal, Parasitic)
- Paratyphoid Fever
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Poliovirus Infection
- Psittacosis
- Q Fever
- Relapsing Fever
- Salmonellosis (other than Typhoid Fever)
- Shigellosis
- Syphilis (all stages, including congenital)
- Trichinosis
- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Typhoid Fever, Cases and Carriers
- Vibrio Infections
- West Nile Virus Infection
- Yellow Fever
- Yersiniosis
- Zika Virus Infection
- Anaplasmosis
- Brucellosis, animal (except infections because of Brucella canis)
- Chancroid
- Coccidioidomycosis
- Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD)
- Cyclosporiasis
- Cysticercosis or Taeniasis
- Ehrlichiosis
- Giardiasis
- Gonococcal Infections
- Hepatitis B (specify acute, chronic, or perinatal)
- Hepatitis C (specify acute, chronic, or perinatal)
- Hepatitis D (Delta) (specify acute case or chronic)
- Hepatitis E, acute infection
- Influenza
- Legionellosis
- Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease)
- Leptospirosis
- Lyme Disease
- Mumps
- Respiratory Syncytial Virus
- Rickettsial Diseases (non-Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, including Typhus and Typhus-like illnesses)
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Rubella (German Measles)
- Rubella Syndrome, congenital
- Tetanus
- Toxoplasmosis
- Tularemia, animal
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- (AIDS) confirmed
List as per California Department of Public Health (source)
Learn about non-communicable diseases list
How do these communicable diseases spread?
How these diseases spread depends on the specific disease or infectious agent. Some ways in which communicable diseases spread are by:
- Physical contact with an infected person, such as through touch (staphylococcus), sexual intercourse (gonorrhea, HIV), fecal/oral transmission (hepatitis A), or droplets (influenza, TB)
- Contact with a contaminated surface or object (Norwalk virus), food (salmonella, E. coli), blood (HIV, hepatitis B), or water (cholera);
- Bites from insects or animals capable of transmitting the disease (mosquito: malaria and yellow fever; flea: plague); and
- Travel through the air, such as tuberculosis or measles.
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Conclusion
Communicable diseases are contagious and can be passed on through direct contact or by breathing air containing droplets of infectious material. Communicable diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and other means. The list of communicable disease is commonly reported worldwide and hence not complete.
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Originally published in acphd.org
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