GLOSSARY

Antiretroviral Therapy: Treatment with drugs that inhibit the ability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other types of retroviruses to multiply in the body.

Asphyxia: The failure of the respiratory process brought about by the lack or insufficiency of oxygen in the brain. The unconsciousness that results sometimes leads to death.

Artificial intelligence: (Also AI) The theory and development of computer systems can perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

Blood bank: Facility where blood from blood donors is stored until it is needed for people in the hospital.

Bloodborne disease: Microorganisms that cause disease and are present in human blood. They include but are not limited to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Cardiologist: A doctor who specializes in treating diseases of the heart.

Child mortality: Child mortality or the under-five mortality rate refers to the probability of a child dying between birth and exactly 5 years of age.

Cholera: An acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria. People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria. The infection is often mild or without symptoms but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening.

Collaboration: The situation of two or more people or organizations working together to create or achieve a common goal.

Contact tracing: A public health measure undertaken to slow and eventually halt the spread of a disease that is transmitted person-to-person. People who have come in close proximity to or direct contact with an infected person are identified and monitored for signs of infection. These individuals, along with any of their contacts who manifest symptoms, are generally required to isolate themselves long enough to be treated, if necessary, before they can infect others.

Contaminate: To make something impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance.

Containment: The act of controlling or limiting something or someone harmful.

Copepods: A group of small crustaceans that are infected with Guinea worm larvae and can be found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat.

Coronavirus: Coronaviruses are a type of virus. There are many different kinds, and some cause disease.

COVID-19 (COVID): A communicable respiratory disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus in 2019 (COVID-19) that causes illness in humans.

COVID vaccine: A vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Cowpox: Cowpox disease, which is evident in cows from ulcers on the teats, had been known as a disease of cows for hundreds of years; human cowpox occurred as a self-contained, localized ulcer on the hands or at other sites where scratches or abrasions allowed entry of the virus. The preventive effect of vaccination, or intentional inoculation with the vaccinia virus, was demonstrated by English surgeon Edward Jenner in 1796, following the observation that milkmaids who had been infected by cowpox during milking subsequently were immune to smallpox. During the 1980s researchers discovered that rodents were also a natural reservoir for the virus, and that rodents, not cattle, were responsible for most cowpox infections in humans.

Cultural Competence: The ability to understand and interact effectively with people from other cultures.

Depression: A mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called a major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how an individual feels, thinks, and behaves and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.

Diabetes: A chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

Disfigurement: The state of having one's appearance deeply and persistently harmed, such as from a disease, injury, birth defect, or wound.

Disinformation: False information intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organization to a rival power or the media.

Disease: Any illness of people, animals, plants, etc., caused by infection or a failure of health rather than by an injury.

Ebola: A serious infectious disease causing fever and internal bleeding.

Epidemiology: The study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns, and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health and shapes policy decisions and evidence-based practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive healthcare.

Epidemic: Defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in a specific population and geographical area. Yellow fever, smallpox, measles, and polio are examples of epidemics. An epidemic disease does not necessarily have to be contagious.

Eradicate: To get rid of something completely.

Equality: The situation or state where all the members of a society or group have the same status, rights, and opportunities.

Equity: The state in which everyone is treated fairly according to their needs and no group is given special treatment.

Field work: Work or study that is done in the field is done in a real, natural environment rather than in a theoretical way or in controlled conditions (i.e. rather than in an office or laboratory).

Field Epidemiology: The application of epidemiologic methods to unexpected health problems when a rapid on-site investigation is necessary for timely intervention.

Frontline workers: Employees within essential industries who must be physically present at their jobs. These workers are in specific frontline occupations (often medical) who face a variety of health risks in their workplaces.

Gastroenteritis: Also known as infectious diarrhea, this condition occurs from inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine.

Global health: An area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving health equity for all people worldwide.

Global threat: The cause of a global environmental crisis and declining living standards. These include poverty, cultural, economic, political and religious fundamentalism, consumption, population increase, and degradation of the global ecosystem.

Guinea worm: A neglected tropical disease (NTD) that is caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis. The disease affects poor communities in remote parts of Africa that do not have safe water to drink. There is neither a drug treatment for Guinea worm disease nor a vaccine to prevent it.

Haemophilia: A rare blood disease in which blood continues to flow after a cut or other injury because one of the substances that causes clotting does not work correctly.

Health Equity: The state when people have opportunities based on their needs.

HIV/AIDS: HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

Hypertension: A condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure.

Immunization: The process of protecting a person or animal from infectious disease by putting a substance into the body to produce antibodies.

Infect: To pass a disease to a person, animal, or plant.

Infectious disease: Disorders caused by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. Many organisms live in and on our bodies and are normally harmless or even helpful. But, under certain conditions, some organisms may cause disease and can be passed from person to person.

Influenza: A highly contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death.

Intervention: A public health intervention is an organized effort to promote those specific behaviors and habits that can improve physical, mental, and emotional health. These interventions can also reframe the perspective of unhealthy habits to change the way people think about those behaviors.

Larvae: The immature, wingless, and often wormlike feeding form that hatches from the egg of many insects, alters chiefly in size while passing through several molts, and is finally transformed into a pupa or chrysalis from which the adult emerges.

Malaria: An intermittent and remittent fever caused by a protozoan parasite that invades the red blood cells. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes in many tropical and subtropical regions.

Mass vaccination: The process of delivering immunizations to a large number of people at one or more locations in a short interval of time. This strategy vaccinates all eligible and willing people in an area.

Mectizan Donation Program: Established in 1987, the Mectizan Donation Program (MDP) is the longest-running drug donation program for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). MDP oversees the donation of Mectizan® by Merck & Co., Inc. to eligible countries where river blindness and lymphatic filariasis are endemic.

Microfilaria: An early stage in the life cycle of certain parasitic nematodes in the family Onchocercidae.

Mortality rate: A measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Also known as death rate.

Nodule: A small round lump that can appear on the body and is a sign of an illness. The Onchocerciasis volvulus larvae live in nests, or “nodules,” beneath the skin, where they develop into adult worms.

Nomad: A member of a people having no permanent home but moving from place to place usually in search of food or to graze livestock.

Obesity: Abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese.

Onchocerciasis: Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus. It is transmitted through repeated bites by blackflies of the genus Simulium.

Opportunistic infection: Infections that occur more often or are more severe in people with weakened immune systems than in people with healthy immune systems.

Outbreak: A sudden rise in the incidence of a disease.

Outreach: An effort to bring services or information to people where they live or spend time.

Pandemic: A disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents. It affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic.

Paralysis: The loss of the ability to move some or all of your body. It can have many different causes, some of which can be serious. Depending on the cause, it may be temporary or permanent.

Parasite: An organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host.

Pneumonia: A form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. When an individual has pneumonia, the alveoli are filled with pus and fluid, which makes breathing painful and limits oxygen intake.

Polio (poliomyelitis): A disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person's spinal cord, causing flacid paralysis.

Public health: The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, both public and private, communities, and individuals.

Quarantine: Separation and restriction of the movements of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick and ensure they do not infect others.

Risk: Someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD): Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), are infections that are passed from one person to another through sexual contact.

Schizophrenia: A chronic, severe mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others.

Smallpox: Before smallpox was eradicated, it was a serious infectious disease caused by the variola virus. It was contagious—meaning, it spread from one person to another. People who had smallpox had a fever and a distinctive, progressive skin rash. About 3 out of every 10 people with the disease died. Many smallpox survivors have permanent scars over large areas of their body, especially their faces.

Social epidemiology: A branch of epidemiology that focuses particularly on the effects of social-structural factors on states of health. Social epidemiology assumes that the distribution of advantages and disadvantages in a society reflects the distribution of health and disease.

Species: A set of animals or plants in which the members have similar characteristics to each other and can breed with each other.

Surveillance: The ongoing and systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data in the process of describing and monitoring a health event. This information is used for planning, implementing, and evaluating public health interventions and programs.

Stigma/Stigmatize: The disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceivable social characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society.

Three by Five Initiative (3x5 Initiative): A World Health Organization (WHO) developed process for providing antiretroviral treatment to patients with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries.

Threat: A condition, agent, or incident which directly or indirectly causes ill health.

Tuberculosis (TB): A bacterial infection spread through inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. It mainly affects the lungs, but can affect any part of the body, including the abdomen, glands, bones, and nervous system.

Vaccine: A substance that is put into the body of a person or animal to protect them from disease by causing the body to produce antibodies.

Vaccinate: To give someone a vaccine, usually by injection, to prevent them from getting a disease.

Viral Disease: Any illness or health condition caused by a virus.

Virus: An ultramicroscopic agent that can only reproduce in living cells and is spread through infection.

Zika virus: A virus transmitted by mosquitoes which typically causes asymptomatic or mild infection (fever and rash) in humans, identified originally in Africa and later in other tropical regions, including South America, where it may be associated with an increased incidence of microcephaly in babies born to mothers infected during pregnancy.