This document provides an overview of key concepts in communicable disease epidemiology. It defines epidemiology as the study of health-related states and events in populations. The epidemiologic triad shows that for a disease to occur there must be an agent, host, and environment. A communicable disease is one that can be directly or indirectly transmitted between humans or from animals/the environment to humans. Studying communicable disease epidemiology is important for understanding changes in disease patterns, discovering new infections, and investigating chronic diseases with potential infectious origins. The chain of infection involves a source/reservoir, mode of transmission, and susceptible host for a disease to spread.