fomes

noun3

1. •
   (figurative, no longer used) Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious.

   • Naturall tempers... prove a great Fomes of sinne. — 1658
2. •
   (no longer used) Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people.

   • Toys are common fomites.
3. •
   (no longer used) Morbid matter created by a disease.

   • If this putrid ferment could be more immediately corrected, a stop would probably be put to the flux, and the fomes of the disease likewise removed. — 1773