Contagion

noun

1. A disease spread by contact
2. The spread or transmission of such a disease
3. (by extension) the spread of anything harmful, as if it were such a disease
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. A resulting recession or crisis developed in such manner