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Microorganisms are the causative agents in many infectious diseases. The organisms involved include pathogenic bacteria, causing diseases such as plague, tuberculosis and anthrax; protozoan parasites, causing diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness, dysentery and toxoplasmosis; and also fungi causing diseases such as ringworm, candidiasis ...
[4] [5] [6] Small animals, such as helminths and insects, can also cause or transmit disease. However, these animals are usually referred to as parasites rather than pathogens. [ 7 ] The scientific study of microscopic organisms, including microscopic pathogenic organisms, is called microbiology , while parasitology refers to the scientific ...
Their growth and reproduction within their hosts can cause disease. "Germ" refers to not just a bacterium but to any type of microorganism, such as protists or fungi, or other pathogens that can cause disease, such as viruses, prions, or viroids. [1] Diseases caused by pathogens are called infectious diseases. Even when a pathogen is the ...
A human pathogen is a pathogen (microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus) that causes disease in humans.. The human physiological defense against common pathogens (such as Pneumocystis) is mainly the responsibility of the immune system with help by some of the body's normal microbiota.
In some infectious diseases, the severity of symptoms has been shown to be dependent on specific genetic traits of the host. [6] [7] 4. Organisms that look alike but behave differently: In some cases a harmless organism exists which looks identical to a disease causing organism with a microscope, which complicates the discovery process. [8] 5.
Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. [1] This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and are often beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number of these pathogenic species in humans is estimated to be fewer than a hundred. [2]
Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Although fungi are eukaryotic , many pathogenic fungi are microorganisms . [ 1 ] Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans; [ 2 ] their study is called " medical mycology ".
Pathogenic bacteria are a major cause of human death and disease and cause infections such as tetanus (caused by Clostridium tetani), typhoid fever, diphtheria, syphilis, cholera, foodborne illness, leprosy (caused by Mycobacterium leprae) and tuberculosis (caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis). [214]