What are living and nonliving reservoirs?

In the study of disease transmission, a reservoir of an infectious agent refers to the habitat where that infectious agent lives, grows and multiplies. There are two basic types of reservoirs, living and non living reservoirs. A living reservoir refers to a living organism in which an infectious agent is residing. A living reservoir can be a human or an animal. A non living reservoir on the other hand refers to a non living organism which accommodates an infectious agent. Examples of non living reservoirs are soils, water, air, etc. Through these reservoirs infectious diseases can be spread to healthy individuals.