Eradication is the reduction of an
infectious disease's
prevalence in the
global host population to zero. It is sometimes confused with
elimination, which describes either the reduction of an infectious disease's prevalence in a regional population to zero, or the reduction of the global prevalence to a negligible amount. Further confusion arises from the use of the term eradication to refer to the total removal of a given
pathogen from an individual (also known as clearance of an
infection), particularly in the context of
HIV and certain other
viruses where such cures are sought.