Final answer:
A disease that comes back after a significant decline in incidence is known as a re-emerging infectious disease, which includes diseases like the bubonic plague, dengue fever, yellow fever, and cholera.
Step-by-step explanation:
A disease that comes back after a significant decline in incidence is considered to be a re-emerging infectious disease. These are diseases that previously caused widespread health issues, saw their incidence rates decline, but then made a comeback. This can happen due to a variety of factors, including changes in public health practices, microbial evolution, or changes in human behaviors. An example of a re-emerging infectious disease is the bubonic plague, which has seen an uptick in cases since the 1980s after a period of quiescence. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) monitors diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, and cholera for their potential to re-emerge and impact global health.
The terms endemic, epidemic, and latent disease are also important in understanding disease patterns. An endemic disease maintains a consistent presence within a population, usually at low incidence, while an epidemic occurs when a disease affects an unusually high number of individuals at the same time. A latent disease can enter a dormant state after the acute phase, with the risk of reactivation into an acute condition sometime later.