eli5 if everyone with a certain disease died, would that disease cease to exist?

Question

Say influenza, if tomorrow, everyone with influenza spontaneously died, would the disease cease to exist?

In: 6

Answer 1

It seems you’re referring to infectious diseases. In which case: no. The pathogen (bacteria, virus, microorganism that causes it) could remain dormant elsewhere.

‘Disease’ is a pretty general term There’s plenty of non-infectious diseases (eg heart disease). That can be caused by deficiencies, or are hereditary, or psychological .