contagions

noun

1. 1.A disease spread by contact
2. 2.The spread or transmission of such a disease
3. 3.(by extension) the spread of anything harmful, as if it were such a disease
4. 4.A situation in which small shocks, which initially affect only a few financial institutions or a particular region of an economy, spread to the rest of financial sectors and other countries whose economies were previously healthy
5. 5.A resulting recession or crisis developed in such manner