Pathogenicity

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Pathogenicity

Pathogenicity is the ability of an organism, a pathogen

Pathogen

A pathogen , infectious agent, or germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its Host .There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring...
, to produce an infectious disease in another organism.

It is often used interchangeably with the term "virulence

Virulence

Virulence refers to the degree of pathogenicity of an organism, or in other words the relative ability of a pathogen to cause disease.The word virulent, which is the adjective for virulence, derives from the Latin word virulentus, which means "full of poison." From an ecology point of view, virulence can be defined as the host's p...
", although some authors prefer to reserve the latter term for descriptions of the relative degree of damage done by a pathogen

Pathogen

A pathogen , infectious agent, or germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its Host .There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring...
. Pathogens are infectious agents that cause disease and include viruses, bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
, fungi, protozoa

Protozoa

Protozoan are microorganisms classified as unicellular eukaryotes. While there is no exact definition of the term "protozoan", most scientists use the word to refer to a unicellular heterotrophic protist, such as an amoeba or a ciliate....
and higher parasites. The agents responsible for the CJD

CJD

CJD can mean:*Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare disease of the brain caused by prions, related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy*Julian day#Alternatives, an alternate way of expressing the Julian Date...
and BSE

BSE

BSE could refer to:* B.S.E., Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering* Scanning_electron_microscope* Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as "mad cow disease", a neurological disease...
are also pathogenic.

The term used to describe the capacity of microbes to cause disease.

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Encyclopedia

Pathogenicity is the ability of an organism, a pathogen
Pathogen

A pathogen , infectious agent, or germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its Host .There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring...
, to produce an infectious disease in another organism.

It is often used interchangeably with the term "virulence
Virulence

Virulence refers to the degree of pathogenicity of an organism, or in other words the relative ability of a pathogen to cause disease.The word virulent, which is the adjective for virulence, derives from the Latin word virulentus, which means "full of poison." From an ecology point of view, virulence can be defined as the host's p...
", although some authors prefer to reserve the latter term for descriptions of the relative degree of damage done by a pathogen
Pathogen

A pathogen , infectious agent, or germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its Host .There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring...
. Pathogens are infectious agents that cause disease and include viruses, bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
, fungi, protozoa
Protozoa

Protozoan are microorganisms classified as unicellular eukaryotes. While there is no exact definition of the term "protozoan", most scientists use the word to refer to a unicellular heterotrophic protist, such as an amoeba or a ciliate....
and higher parasites. The agents responsible for the CJD
CJD

CJD can mean:*Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare disease of the brain caused by prions, related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy*Julian day#Alternatives, an alternate way of expressing the Julian Date...
and BSE
BSE

BSE could refer to:* B.S.E., Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering* Scanning_electron_microscope* Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as "mad cow disease", a neurological disease...
are also pathogenic.

The term used to describe the capacity of microbes to cause disease. [Source: Talaro, Kathleen P. Foundations in Microbiology / Kathleen Park Talaro. - 6th edition. 2008]