Contagium

Contaguim (lat. Contagium → contāgium; from contra- “against” + -agi- “to harm”) is a medical term denoting an infectious process or disease that is transmitted by contact with a sick person and can affect both people and animals. The term comes from the Latin word concregium - mud, binding and contagious (meaning contagious), coined in 1676 by the Frenchman Goufel du Pertuzoy. The word “contagium” is mentioned in Hippocrates, but not in the sense that Goufel du Pertoit had in mind - but as something between a fever and a cold on the human body, which appears due to a cold on the skin, where characteristic symptoms appear ( for example, pain in the eyes). Accordingly, in medicine the term “contigum” is used to refer to general symptoms observed in sick people and animals, usually associated with an acute infectious disease or acute intoxication. However, literally the term has several meanings. In contrast to its original meaning, the term "contaguum" can also refer to an infectious disease in animals passing through agricultural produce or waste that can be consumed by humans. This use of the term was introduced by the famous naturalist Thomas Spallanzen in his text Agriculturae scholae libri XII, published in 1597. Although the term is no longer used, it has been the subject of scientific research among medical scientists for centuries, and its meaning is still relevant in veterinary medicine today. Thus, when diagnosing infectious diseases in animals, researchers often use a special technique known as contaguometry to measure the degree of contamination and the ability to cause disease in susceptible animals. Thus, the definition of contaguum includes infectious diseases transmitted both directly by contact and through indirect methods, including the transmission of animal diseases to food and drugs that can infect humans.