Communicable Diseases

Question 1

What are pathogens

Answer 1

Microorganisms that cause infectious disease

Question 2

What can they infect and how can communicable diseases spread

Answer 2

They can infect plants and humans, they can be spread by
direct contact- touching contaminated surfaces, including the skin. Eg athletes foot by shower floors
by water- by drinking/bathing in water. Eg cholera
By air- pathogens can be carried in the air and breathed in. Airborne pathogens are carried as droplets produced when you cough or sneeze. Eg influenza

Question 3

Name 4 ways in which diseases spread in animals and plants

Answer 3

1. Bacteria
2. Viruses
3. Protists
4. Fungi

Question 4

How can bacteria spread disease

Answer 4

Small cells which can reproduce rapidly inside your body

They make you feel ill by producing toxins that damage your cells and tissues

Question 5

How can viruses spread disease

Answer 5

Viruses are not cells. They’re tiny
They reproduce rapidly inside your body
They live inside your cells and replicate themselves using the cells machinery to produce many copies, the cell will then burst releasing viruses
This cell damage is what makes you feel ill

Question 6

How do protists spread disease

Answer 6

Are single celled prokaryotes
Some are parasites. They live in or on other organisms and can cause them damage
Often transferred to the organism by a vector

Question 7

What’s a vector

Answer 7

Doesn’t get the disease itself but carries the protist

Question 8

How do fungi spread disease

Answer 8

Single cells some are made of hyphae (thread like structures)
These hyphae can grow and penetrate skin and surface of plants causing disease
The hyphae can produce spores which can spread