What are the five ways infectious diseases can be spread?

There are five primary ways in which infectious diseases can be spread: direct contact, contact with fomites (inanimate objects and surfaces), airborne transmission, droplet transmission, and vector-borne transmission. Less common modes include vertical transmission (from mother to child) and transfusion transmission, when contaminated donor blood gives rise to an infection in the transfusion recipient. Different pathogens rely on different forms of transmission. Herpesviruses, for example, move to uninfected individuals via direct contact with bodily fluids...