Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, non-motile, facultative rod in the genus Klebsiella and family Enterobacteriaceae. In addition to O and H antigens, K. pneumoniae possess K antigens (that consists mainly of polysaccharides). K antigens are capsular antigens found mostly amongst members of the Enterobacteriaceae family; and in the case of K. pneumoniae, the […]
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Bacteriology
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a non-enteric, oxidase positive, Gram-negative, motile; obligate aerobic straight or curved rod that is found in the genus Pseudomonas and family Pseudomonadaceae. They are recurrently present in small numbers as members of the normal flora in the small intestine and skin of humans especially in hospitalized patients. P. aeruginosa is the most
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Bacteriology
Escherichia coli is a facultative, enteric, Gram-negative, motile/flagellated, and lactose-fermenting rod that occur in the genus Escherichia and family Enterobacteria or Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacteriaceae are bacteria that naturally exist in the intestinal tract of animals and humans, and also found in water and soil. Because the natural habitat of E. coli is the intestinal tract of
Clostridium botulinum is a Gram-positive, strict-anaerobic, motile, pleomorphic, catalase-negative, endospore-forming bacillus (rod) that is ubiquitously found in the soil. The endopores of C. botulinum are sub-terminally placed or located on the bacterium and they are oval in shape. C. botulinum is found in the genus Clostridium and class Clostridia; and members are known to cause
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Bacteriology
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a slim, non-motile, non-spore forming, Gram-positive, obligate aerobe, and acid-fast bacillus (rod) with a waxy cell wall. It is found in the genus Mycobacterium and family Mycobacteriaceae. Aside M. tuberculosis, M. bovis (cattle/animal pathogen), M. avium and M. leprae (causative agent of leprosy/Hansen’s disease)are the other important species of the genus Mycobacterium
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Bacteriology
Haemophilus influenza is a small, Gram-negative, non-sporulating, non-motile, urease positive, indole positive, pleomorphic, rod-like or coccobacillus blood-loving bacterium in the family, Pasteurellaceae. H. influenzae, a non-toxin producing bacterium was first isolated during the 1890 influenza pandemic, and it is often referred to as a “blood-loving” bacterium (i.e. haemophilic bacterium) because it requires growth factors which
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Bacteriology
Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a Gram-positive, non-spore forming, aerobic, rod-shaped and motile bacterium that causes diphtheria, an upper respiratory tract illness. They are pleomorphic organisms exhibiting different characteristic morphological shapes including V-shapes, irregular shapes and club-shapes.C. diphtheriae and other species in the genera Corynebacteria grow on the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract, skin, nares
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Bacteriology
Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative, oxidase positive, spiral, non-spore forming, facultative, motile, curved or straight rod bacterium that causes severe diarrheal disease known as cholera in humans. Cholera, which is one of the leading causes of waterborne infections in developing countries, is a profuse watery diarrheal disease that is associated with extreme dehydration following excessive
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative, oxidase-positive, non-motile, non-sporulating, non-capsulate, diplococcus found asymptomatically in humans. N. gonorrhoeae is found in the family Neisseriaceae and genus Neisseria which contains two important human pathogens viz: N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis (which causes meningococcal meningitis, an inflammation of the meninges of the brain and spinal cord). Though the syndromes
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Bacteriology
To establish an infectious disease, a disease agent (including bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa) must first come in contact with a susceptible human host. This phase is called contact or encounter. Humans first encounter with microorganisms starts immediately after birth (period in which the newborn begin to build up its own normal flora) but as
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Bacteriology