A pathogen is a biological agent that can cause disease.
There are many types of Pathogens. What follows is a beta list of the known categories of pathogens
- bacteria
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae
- Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) - see meningitis
- Treponema pallidum
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Streptococcus pyogenes
- Escherichia coli
- Salmonella typhimurium
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis)
- Rickettsiae
- viruseses
- AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus /HIV)
- Herpes /HSV (Herpes simplex virus)
- Warts (papillomavirus), similar viruses are believed to contribute to cervical cancer.
- SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
- Cytomegalovirus
- Hepatitis (note that Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E are transmitted via the faecal-oral route)
- Hantaviruses (including the Sin Nombre virus, which causes HPS)
- Molluscum contagiosum
- subviral pathogens such as viroids and prions.
- the CDC's Bad Bug Book lists the most serious food-borne pathogens.
- HIV is a retrovirus
