# Pathogen Analogy Boundary
**Entity class:** Model-boundary concept
The **pathogen analogy boundary** separates literal biological agents from modeled informational or behavioral contagion. Violent ideology may be represented as a memetic payload moving through a network, but it is not a statutory biological agent; a person may be a carrier of information without becoming a biological pathogen.
## Relationships
[[wiki/Biological Agent|Biological Agent]] · [[wiki/Memetic Vector|Memetic Vector]] · [[wiki/Epidemiological Modeling of Violent Extremism|Epidemiological Modeling of Violent Extremism]] · [[wiki/Counterterrorism Collection - Public Health and Violence Prevention|Public Health and Violence Prevention]]
## Sources
- [18 U.S.C. §178 — biological-weapons definitions](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=2023&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-2023-title18-section178)
**As of:** 2026-09-23