smittekilde
Smittekilde is a term used in epidemiology and public health to denote the source of infection in a population. It refers to the person, animal, object, or environmental factor from which an infectious agent originates and to which new cases can be traced. Identifying the smittekilde is a central step in outbreak investigation and contact tracing, as it helps define transmission chains and guide control measures.
The word is Danish, composed from smitte (infection) and kilde (source). In practice, the smittekilde may be
In an outbreak, public health teams work to establish the smittekilde through interviews, traceback analyses, and
See also: index case, outbreak investigation, infection control, infectious disease epidemiology, public health surveillance.
Note: While commonly used in Danish-language literature and clinical settings, the English equivalents include "source of