contact tracing
noun
: the practice of identifying, notifying, and monitoring individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of an infectious disease as a means of controlling the spread of infection
Health authorities in all these places are working hard to find the original source, or "patient zero," using what's called contact tracing, or finding all the people the patients were in contact with … . In a highly mobile world, that's increasingly difficult.—The Salt Lake Tribune
In the previous two years, two chancroid cases had been diagnosed in Massachusetts. The outbreak was terminated by intensive surveillance efforts, contact tracing, and antimicrobial treatment of both symptomatic and asymptomatic sex partners.—The Journal of the American Medical Association
contact tracer
noun
plural contact tracers
And each positive case will require a contact tracer to retrace the patient's steps and track down as many people as possible who they might have come into contact with.
—Luke DeCock and Adam Wagner
Cite this Entry
“Contact tracing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contact%20tracing. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.
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