Any inanimate objects or materials that can harbor pathogenic organisms and transmit infection; the plural of 'fomes'.
From Latin 'fomes' (tinder, fuel) in its medical sense. The plural can be either 'fomites' or 'fomes,' with 'fomites' being more common in English medical terminology.
Epidemiologists distinguish between 'fomites' (things you touch) and 'aerosols' (things you breathe), but both refer back to that ancient idea of disease spreading like fire—language reveals how long we've metaphorically understood infection.
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