bacterial, fugal, viral and protist diseases

• *Salmonella*:

  • Disease: food poisoning
  • Symptoms: cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever
  • Cause: undercooked food, poor hygiene
  • Prevention/treatment: cook food thoroughly, maintain good hygiene, vaccinate poultry (antibiotics not usually given as the body's white blood cells can fight the pathogen)
• *Gonorrhoea*:

  • Disease: gonorrhoea (STD)
  • Symptoms: yellow/green discharge from genitals, pain urinating, or symptomless
  • Cause: unprotected sex
  • Prevention/treatment: condoms, limit sexual partners, antibiotics (note: super-gonorrhoea is resistant to antibiotics)
• *Agrobacterium tumefacians*:

  • Disease: crown galls (affecting the join between root and shoot)
  • Uses plasmids to insert their DNA into a plant cell
• *Measles virus*:

  • Disease: measles
  • Symptoms: fever, rash, sore eyes, cold-like symptoms, blindness, brain damage, potentially fatal
  • Cause: airborne droplets
  • Prevention/treatment: hydration, paracetamol/ibuprofen (to reduce fever), isolation, vaccination (MMR vaccine)
• *Influenza*:

  • Disease: flu (mutates yearly)
  • Symptoms: high temperature, tiredness, weakness, headaches, aches/pains, dry chesty cough
  • Cause: airborne droplets
  • Prevention/treatment: rest, hydration, vaccinations, cleaning surfaces, hand hygiene, tissue use, binning used tissues
• *HIV*:

  • Disease: AIDS
  • Symptoms: fever, rash, tiredness, weight loss, flu-like symptoms with HIV, no immune system with AIDS
  • Cause: contact with body fluids (unprotected sex, blood transfusions, sharing needles, breast milk/placenta)
  • Prevention/treatment: condoms, sterilize needles, antiretroviral drugs (to stop virus reproduction)
• *Tobacco Mosaic virus*:

  • Disease: yellow mosaic pattern on leaves
  • Symptoms: inability to photosynthesize
  • Cause: direct contact between plants
  • Prevention/treatment: destroy infected plants, maintain good field hygiene, pest control, use GM resistant plants
• *Fungi*:

  • Disease: black rose spot
  • Symptoms: black (and purple) spots on leaves, inability to photosynthesize
  • Cause: movement of fungal spores by air and water
  • Prevention/treatment: remove and burn affected leaves, use fungicide spray, consider resistant strains, isolate affected plants
• *Fungi*:

  • Disease: athlete's foot
  • Symptoms: scaly, peeling, or cracked skin
  • Prevention/treatment: anti-fungal drugs (damage fungal cell membranes), good hygiene, ensure shoes are dry before wearing
• *Protist - Plasmodium*:

  • Disease: malaria
  • Symptoms: recurrent fever, shivering, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, headache
  • Cause: bite of female Anopheles mosquito
  • Transmission: contaminated blood from infected people
  • Prevention/treatment: anti-malarial drugs (kill pathogens in the blood), prevent mosquito bites (nets, insecticide, remove still water), vaccination