fomite

thumb|right|Detecting whether medics have inadvertently transferred fluids to their clothing during a training sequence using simulated bodily fluids carrying an ultraviolet dye A fomite () or fomes () is any inanimate object that, when contaminated with or exposed to infectious agents (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses or fungi), can transfer disease to a new host.

==Transfer of pathogens by fomites== A fomite is any inanimate object (also called passive vector) that, when contaminated with or exposed to infectious agents (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses or fungi), can transfer disease to a new host. Contamination can occur when one of these objects comes into contact with bodily secretions, like nasal fluid, vomit or feces from toilet plume. Many common objects can sustain a pathogen until a person comes in contact with the pathogen, increasing the chance of infection. The likely objects are different in a hospital environment than at home or in a workplace. Fomites such as splinters, barbed wire or farmyard surfaces, including soil, feeding troughs or barn beams, have been implicated as sources of virus.