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Viruses are by far the most abundant biological entities on Earth and they outnumber all the others put together. [ 89 ] They infect all types of cellular life including animals, plants, bacteria and fungi. [ 6 ]: 49 Different types of viruses can infect only a limited range of hosts and many are species-specific.
Virus classification. Virus classification is the process of naming viruses and placing them into a taxonomic system similar to the classification systems used for cellular organisms. Viruses are classified by phenotypic characteristics, such as morphology, nucleic acid type, mode of replication, host organisms, and the type of disease they cause.
A virus is a tiny infectious agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. When infected, the host cell is forced to rapidly produce thousands of identical copies of the original virus. Unlike most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide; new viruses assemble in the infected host cell. But unlike simpler infectious agents ...
The term pathogen came into use in the 1880s. [2][3] Typically, the term pathogen is used to describe an infectious microorganism or agent, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan, prion, viroid, or fungus. [4][5][6] Small animals, such as helminths and insects, can also cause or transmit disease. However, these animals are usually referred to as ...
Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they cause, the techniques to ...
A serotype or serovar is a distinct variation within a species of bacteria or virus or among immune cells of different individuals. These microorganisms, viruses, or cells are classified together based on their surface antigens, allowing the epidemiologic classification of organisms to a level below the species.
Viral disease. A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. [1] Examples are the common cold, gastroenteritis and pneumonia. [2]
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the " white death ", or historically as consumption, [8] is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. [1] Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. [1] Most infections show no symptoms, in which case it is known ...