Describe the characteristics of disease-producing agents.
Description should include
- how microbial agents (i.e., viral, bacterial, protozoan, fungal) cause disease, including ways they enter and leave the body
- the concept that microbes can remain infective for various periods of time
- methods for destroying pathogenic organisms.
Process/Skill Questions:
- How do viral, bacterial, protozoan, and fungal agents differ from each other?
- How do disease-producing agents spread from one animal to another?
- Why are antibiotics not effective against viral infections?
- What methods exist for decreasing an animal's exposure to infectious organisms?
- What is a species-specific disease?
- What is a nosocomial infection?
- What are fomites?