What is a fomite?

• A. A living creature that acquires a pathogen form one living host and transmits it to another
• B. A contaminated inanimate object such as clothing, milking equipment, trucks
• C. Body fluids (e.g. blood, nasal secretions) containing infectious agents
• D. A type of mite that transmite disease from animal to animal

Answer: (B)

A fomite is an inanimate object that can carry infectious agents and transfer them to a new host. That’s why contaminated clothing, milking equipment, and trucks are classic examples—the pathogen can linger on these surfaces and be picked up by a susceptible animal or person who then touches the object and subsequently touches their mucous membranes. This differs from a living vector, which is a live organism that transmits pathogens, and from body fluids or secretions, which contain pathogens but are not objects themselves (and a mite is an arthropod vector, not a fomite).