<P> An airborne disease is any disease that is caused by pathogens that can be transmitted through the air . Such diseases include many of considerable importance both in human and veterinary medicine . The relevant pathogens may be viruses, bacteria, or fungi, and they may be spread through breathing, talking, coughing, sneezing, raising of dust, spraying of liquids, toilet flushing or any activities which generates aerosol particles or droplets . Human airborne diseases do not include conditions caused by air pollution such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), gasses and any airborne particles, though their study and prevention may help inform the science of airborne disease transmission . </P> <P> Airborne diseases include any that are caused via transmission through the air . Many airborne diseases are of great medical importance . The pathogens transmitted may be any kind of microbe, and they may be spread in aerosols, dust or liquids . The aerosols might be generated from sources of infection such as the bodily secretions of an infected animal or person, or biological wastes such as accumulate in lofts, caves, garbage and the like . Such infected aerosols may stay suspended in air currents long enough to travel for considerable distances, though the rate of infection decreases sharply with the distance between the source and the organism infected . </P>

A disease that can be transmitted through the air is spread by