What term describes termination of disease transmission (reducing incidence to zero) in a specific geographic area due to deliberate efforts; continued intervention is required?

• A. Elimination
• B. Eradication
• C. Control
• D. Extinction

Answer: (A)

Elimination refers to reducing transmission of a disease to zero in a defined geographic area through deliberate public health actions, such as vaccination, surveillance, and rapid response to outbreaks. Once zero local transmission is achieved, ongoing intervention is required to maintain that status and prevent reintroduction from outside the area. This distinguishes elimination from eradication, which means the disease has been eliminated worldwide with no further interventions needed anywhere. Control involves lowering disease burden but not achieving zero transmission in a region, and extinction would mean the pathogen no longer exists anywhere. So the scenario described fits elimination.