superspreader

Noun

superspreader (plural superspreaders)

1. A person infected with a pathogen who is responsible for spreading it to many other people.
   • In the SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] outbreak, New York forcibly quarantined a man suspected of having the disease after he refused to isolate himself. That's a real breach of liberty, but suppose he had been an irresponsible superspreader like Typhoid Mary and caused the disease to spin...2003 May 2, Nicholas D. Kristof, “Lock ’Em Up”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2021
   • Another SARS superspreader took the invader by the hand to Singapore's 1,200-bed Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Crowded emergency departments and highly mobile medical staff did the honors with more help from superspreaders. One patient alone infected 24 health-care workers, 15 patients, and 12 visitors....2006, Andrew Nikiforuk, “Nemesis: The Global Hospital”, in Pandemonium: Bird Flu, Mad Cow Disease, and Other Biological Plagues of the 21st Century, Toronto: Viking Canada, →ISBN, page 230

   Synonyms:

   superinfector

2. (also, attributive) An event or place which leads to the spread of an infectious disease to many people.
   • In June, the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union], on behalf of half a dozen detainees housed in various Orange County jails, sued the sheriff in state court, arguing that the jails were superspreaders-in-waiting: the cramped quarters, inadequate cleaning protocols, and severely limited hygiene...2020 December, Laura Thompson, “Southern California Jails Have Become COVID Superspreaders”, in Mother Jones, San Francisco: Foundation for National Progress, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13...
   • As school districts around the U.S. continue to grapple with whether to reopen classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic, data shows Florida started in-person learning without turning schools into superspreaders.2021 March 17, Arian Campo-Flores, “Florida Schools Reopened Without Becoming Covid-19 Superspreaders”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, archived from the original on...
3. (broadly) A person or thing responsible for the widespread distribution of something regarded as dangerous or undesirable (for example, misinformation).
   • But whether they intend it or not, celebrities, politicians and others with large online followings can be superspreaders – not of the coronavirus but of dangerous or false information.2020 July 1, Shira Ovide, “Bogus Ideas Have Superspreaders, Too”, in The New York Times, published 2 July 2020 (updated), →ISSN, archived from the original on 23 Jul 2021
   • "We have also imposed penalties on nearly two dozen additional Pages, groups or accounts linked to these 12 people," Facebook said in a blogpost titled "How we're taking action against vaccine misinformation superspreaders".2021 August 19, “Facebook Removes Dozens of Vaccine Misinformation ‘Superspreaders’”, in The Straits Times, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2021