infective agent

English Thesaurus

1. an agent capable of producing infection (noun.object)

hypernym	:	agent,
definition	:	an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect (noun.object)

hyponym	:	virus,
definition	:	(virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein (noun.animal)

hyponym	:	pathogen,
definition	:	any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism) (noun.animal)