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I would like to find an accurate definition of disease risk for virus ecology. I am searching in articles and in none of them this term is defined, they only mention it.

Schematic of the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and disease risk. 
Disease is greatest in fully cultivated plants, intermediate in wild plants 
that are tended by humans in anthropic habitats, and lowest in fully wild plants. 
On the other hand, biodiversity is highest in the habitats of wild plants, and 
lowest in those of cultivated plants.

Roossinck, M. J., & García-Arenal, F. (2015). Ecosystem simplification, biodiversity loss and plant virus emergence. Current opinion in virology, 10, 56-62.

I have defined it as the probability of a host to develop a disease. However, I have the feeling that this definition is somewhat lax.

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To my knowledge disease risk is not a generally acepted epidemiological term. You may want to look at the incidence rate or prevalence and follow the suggestions from the "See also" section.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you @Vadim for your answer. However as you see in many papers disease risk is introduced as a term: The ecology of infectious disease: effects of host diversity and community composition on Lyme disease risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(2), 567-571. I defined it as the probability of a host to develop a disease, I have the feeling that this definition is somewhat lax $\endgroup$
    – Adrián P.L.
    Commented Feb 15, 2021 at 9:24
  • $\begingroup$ Perhaps you should edit your question to make it more specific: pointing that you are discussing ecology (rather than epidemiology), and perhaps giving examples of the articles. $\endgroup$
    – Roger V.
    Commented Feb 15, 2021 at 9:29
  • $\begingroup$ I have changed it. Thank you for your support $\endgroup$
    – Adrián P.L.
    Commented Feb 15, 2021 at 9:42

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