The organisms that cause communicable diseases are called infectious agents, and their transmission to new uninfected people is what causes communicable diseases; (note that infectious diseases is an interchangeable term). Familiar examples of communicable diseases are malaria and tuberculosis. Diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes mellitus, which are not caused by infectious agents and are not transmitted between people, are called non-communicable diseases.

Tuberculosis is caused by an organism called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can be transmitted from one person to another. Is TB a communicable or non-communicable disease?

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It is a communicable disease because it is caused by an infectious agent and it develops as a result of transmission of the infectious agent.

Last modified: Saturday, 5 July 2014, 6:48 PM