Contagion

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun Venom; poison.

II. Contagion ·noun The transmission of a disease from one person to another, by direct or indirect contact.

III. Contagion ·noun The act or means of communicating any influence to the mind or heart; as, the contagion of enthusiasm.

IV. Contagion ·noun That which serves as a medium or agency to transmit disease; a virus produced by, or exhalation proceeding from, a diseased person, and capable of reproducing the disease.