contagion
noun
[ kənˈteɪdʒ(ə)n ]
• the communication of disease from one person or organism to another by close contact.
• "the rooms held no risk of contagion"
Origin:
late Middle English (denoting a contagious disease): from Latin contagio(n- ), from con- ‘together with’ + the base of tangere ‘to touch’.
