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Name of the Disease: Tuberculosis
Name of the Causative Agent: Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a rod-shaped, non-motile, aerobic, facultative intracellular parasite. It can be found in either water or soil. The hydrophobic bacterial cells of tuberculosis possess a high-content lipid cell wall. This helps the cells to increase virulence, resist antibiotics, resist acidic or basic elements, and/or resist osmotic lysis.
Nature of the Disease:
There are two categories of this disease, active and latent. Active pulmonary tuberculosis bacteria manifests by rapidly multiplying, invading the lungs, and can be spread by aerosol droplet spray through the mouth or nose. Latent pulmonary TB (LTBI) patients that have the disease do not exhibit symptoms or positive test results, and cannot spread the infection to others. There is a form of extra pulmonary TB that occurs outside of the lungs. Miliary tuberculosis is a rare form of the active disease that occurs when bacteria find their way into the bloodstream and affect multiple organs at one time.
Initially, the bacterium causes the disease by ingestion of the human through droplet spray. Macrophages then consume the cells by phagocytosis. Due to the high lipid cell wall, it is able to withstand the harsh environment. It can survive and thrive in the patient, and continue to cause disease.
Signs and Symptoms:
A person infected with active tuberculosis may present any of the following symptoms. These include: fatigue, night sweats, cough, loss of appetite, fever, blood in sputum, or weight loss. However, a person with latent tuberculosis may not exhibit any symptoms, or only an occasional cough.
There are three ways a patient can be tested for TB. First, the tub...

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...udes the rabies vaccine, wound care, and human rabies immune globulin. If caught early, treatment can stop the disease, but there is no cure once clinical systems appear.
Word Count: 441

Works Cited

Bauman, Robert W. Microbiology with Diseases by Body System. 3rd ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Board, A.D.A.M. Editorial. Rocky Mountain spotted fever. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 06 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 June 2014.

"Plague." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., 25 July 2012. Web. 13 June 2014.

Rupprecht, Charles E. Rhabdoviruses: Rabies Virus. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 17 Jan. 0096. Web. 25 June 2014. .

"Tetanus." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., 07 May 2012. Web. 12 June 2014.

"Tuberculosis." Http://textbookofbacteriology.net/tuberculosis.html. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2014.
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