Pathogenic Bacterium Of The Day

Front 1

Bacillus anthracis

Back 1

form endospores/slime layer, biological weapon, soil bacteria, facultative anaerobe, toxin producing disease, 3 forms (respiratory, gastrointestinal, on skin), G+, treated with antibiotics

Hint 1

Anthrax

Front 2

Bordetella pertussis

Back 2

DTAP vaccine, only a human disease, produces several toxins, unusual LPS, incubation period 7-14 days, spread by coughing, aerobic, G-, treated with antibiotics

Hint 2

Pertussis (aka Whooping Cough), cyanosis, and apnoae

Front 3

Borrelia burgdorferi

Back 3

Very long slow-growing, transmission through deer ticks, contains 21 plasmids, can survive without iron, unusual genome, G-, spirochete

Hint 3

Lyme disease

Front 4

Campylobacter jejuni

Back 4

difficult to isolate in lab, found in raw poultry/meat, causes diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, etc., produces cytolethal distending toxin, G-, spirochete/coccal form

Hint 4

Bacterial food poisoning

Front 5

Chlamydia trachomatis

Back 5

Parasite but contains DNA, ribosomes and RNA, biphasic life cycle, elementary body (EB) and reticulate body, aerobe, 1 plasmid, most prevalent STI in the world, "silent" disease, leading cause of infectious blindness, G-, treat with azithromycin

Hint 5

Chlamydia, trachoma, and LGV

Front 6

Cornebacterium diptheriae

Back 6

Irregular shape/pleomorphic, metachromatic granules, snapping movement, upper respiratory tract illness, exotoxin causes cell death, G+, 3 strains: gravis, intermedius, minus, sensitive to antibiotics

Hint 6

Diptheria

Front 7

Enterococcus faecalis

Back 7

use of nosocomial infections, surface pili, opportunistic pathogen, G+, extremely hardy, commensalistic bacterium, resistant to antibiotics, main ingredient to probiotics

Hint 7

Streptococcus faecalis, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE); endocarditis, bactermia, UTIs, wound infections, meningitis

Front 8

Helicobacter pylori

Back 8

urease metabolizes urea to carbon dioxide and ammonia-spread by contaminated food and water, spiral/coccoid form, contains hydrogenase, most widespread infection in the world, hides in mucous in epithelial layer and neutralizes pH, discovered by accident, contagious

Hint 8

Chronic ulcers

Front 9

Haemophilus influenzae

Back 9

HIB vaccine, "loves heme", was considered the cause of flu until 1933, grown on chocolate blood agar, opportunistic pathogen-90% of population has bacteria, unencapsulated (less invasive) than capsulated types

Hint 9

Bacterial meningitis, ear infections, sinusitis, inflammation, pneumonia, respiratory tract infections

Front 10

Listeria monocytogenes

Back 10

acid-fast bacteria, Ziehl-Nelsen stain is used, slow, affects 33% of world population, only 10% develop acute TB, infection is endemic, one vaccine-efficiency is disputed

Hint 10

Tuberculosis, "consumption" (leading cause of death from bacterial infection)

Front 11

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Back 11

STD, gonococci attach to host cell, incubation period 1-14, resistant to penicillin family, bind to immune cells to prevent immune response

Hint 11

Gonorrhea (aka the clap)

Front 12

Neisseria meningitidis

Back 12

invades circulatory system, insocomia, serogroups: A,B,C, quadrivalen vaccine available, major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, positive oxidase, only in humans, can exist in normal flora

Hint 12

Menigococus, cerebrospinal meningitis

Front 13

Shigella sonnei

Back 13

human gastrointestinal tract (low pH) is only host, undergone extensive evolutionary process, plasmid and LPS contribute to virulence, produces Shiga toxin, known for promiscuity

Hint 13

Shigellosis

Front 14

Staphylococcus aureus

Back 14

part of normal skin and nose flora-20% of people are carriers, immunoinvasive strategies, common nosocomial infection, present in 1/2 of meat

Hint 14

Staph infections, illnesses range from pimples to boils to pneumonia and meningitis, TSS, bacteremia and sepsis

Front 15

Staphylococcus pyogenes

Back 15

produces large zones of B-hemolysis when it disrupts erythrocytes, pili to attach, releases toxins, has capsule, makes M protein

Hint 15

Group A streptococcal infections, many human diseases from mild skin infections to life-threatening systemic diseases; scarlet fever, toxic shock syndrome, rheumatic fever, pharyngitis (strep throat)

Front 16

Vibrio chloerae

Back 16

secretes toxin that causes diarrhea, spread through drinking water from feces, 2 circular chromosomes, 4 mil. b.p.

Hint 16

Cholera

Front 17

Streptococcus pneumonia

Back 17

found in upper respiratory system, interacts with H. influenzae, G+, alpha-hemolytic, aerotolerant

Hint 17

pneumonia in late 19th century, common adult meningitis

Front 18

Salmonella typhimurium

Back 18

no spores, facultative anaerobe, transmitted through feces, O-antigen on LPS is responsible for host immune responses, causes typhoid fever in mice

Hint 18

Salmonella infections - human gastroenteritis

Front 19

Treponema pallidum

Back 19

spirochete, too thin to see with gram stain, generally acquired through sexual contact, also placenta-fetus, no vaccine

Hint 19

Syphilis, bejel, pinta, yaws

Front 20

Rickettsia rickettsii

Back 20

G- (stains poorly), live in cytoplasm of cells, transmitted by ticks, small amount of nucleotides and genes, high mortality rate if left untreated

Hint 20

Rocky mountain spotty fever

Front 21

Yersinia Pestis (Pasteurella pestis)

Back 21

travels to lymphathic system until it reaches lymph nodes, ability to suppress and avoid immune responses including phagocytosis and antibody production, spreading between rodents, fleas, and humans, responsible for Black Death which killed at least 1/3 of European population

Hint 21

Takes 3 main forms in humans: pneumonic, septicemic, Bubonic plague