Carriers of the virus may remain infectious for up to a month depending on climate conditions; however, the virus has been known to persist for as little as 2 days and as long as 215 days . An infected carcass or hairs from an infected animal may also transmit RHD . Fomites such as clothing, contaminated food, cages, bedding, feeders and water will also harbour the virus.
32.
He appears to have first used the Latin word " fomes ", meaning tinder, in this sense in his essay on contagion, " De Contagione et Contagiosis Morbis " published in 1546 : " I call fomites [ from the Latin " fomes ", meaning " tinder " ] such things as clothes, linen, etc ., which although not themselves corrupt, can nevertheless foster the essential seeds of the contagion and thus cause infection . ".
