index case

index case
 n.— «A man whom doctors call the “index case”—the first patient they knew about—got sick in December 2006 and was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic for about two weeks.» —“A Medical Mystery Unfolds in Minnesota” by Denise Grady in Austin, Minnesota New York Times Feb. 5, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

By a Long Shot (episode #1572)

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