Tag: Causative agent

In 1854, physician John Snow famously identified a contaminated water pump as the **causative** agent of a cholera outbreak, demonstrating the importance of tracing illness to its origin. In medical terms, causative refers to the agent or factor that directly causes a disease, injury, or other adverse health outcome.

Over 70% of emerging infectious diseases originate from animals, highlighting the critical role of understanding disease transmission. The scientific field that answers the question of what is it called when something causes a disease is known as etiology.

According to the CDC, infectious diseases are caused by a wide range of pathogenic organisms. A prime example of a causative agent in humans is the influenza virus, which causes the seasonal flu by invading and replicating inside our respiratory cells.