This paper summarized professor ZHOU Zhongying′s academic thought of "epidemic toxin". He put forward the theory of "epidemic pathogen causing disease" as well as "new contraction inducing latent pathogen". Taking "epidemic toxin" as the core of pathogenesis

he established the syndrome differentiation and treatment method for epidemic diseases. He believed that epidemic toxin

externally contracted and accompanied by six pathogenic factors

invades the human body and then induces the internal laten pathogen

which can transform to dampness

produce phlegm

cause blood stasis and damage yin

making the pathogenesis of disease more complex when binding with damp

heat

cold

phlegm

stasis and other pathological factors. Equal attention should be paid to the treatment of people

disease

syndrome and toxin. The treatment principle should be removing epidemic pathogens and resolving toxins

as well as reinforcing healthy qi and dispelling pathogen. Multiple methods in combination with syndrome differentiation and disease differentiation are recommended for prescriptions and treatment.