This is a summary of some of the most important diseases caused by microbes. Remember—if the species name of the microbe gives away the disease it causes, questions will most likely contain genus name ONLY.

COMMON HUMAN DISEASES

DISEASES CAUSED BY BACTERIA

Gonorrhea—Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Syphilis—Treponema pallidum

Streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat)/scarlet fever/rheumatic fever—Streptococcus pyogenes

Tuberculosis—Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Legionnaires' disease—Legionella pneumophila

Streptococcal pneumonia—Streptoccus pneumoniae

Diphtheria—Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Whooping cough—Bordatella pertussis

Staphylococcal food poisoning/wound & surgical infections—Staphylococcus aureus

Botulism—Clostridium botulinum

Salmonella gastroenteritis—various Salmonella serotypes

Typhoid fever—Salmonella typhi

Bacillary dysentery (shigellosis)—Shigella dysenteriae

Cholera—Vibrio cholerae

Bubonic plague--Yersinia pestis

Lyme disease—Borrelia burgdorferi

Tetanus—Clostridium tetani

Gas gangrene, occasional gastroenteritis—Clostridium perfringens

Tularemia (rabbit fever)—Francisella tularensis

Brucellosis (undulant fever)—Brucella abortus

Anthrax—Bacillus anthracis

Leptospirosis—Leptospira interrogans

Meningococcal meningitis—Neisseria meningitidis

DISEASES CAUSED BY "ODD” BACTERIA (RICKETTSIAS & CHLAMYDIA)

Chlamydial infections (STDs)—Chlamydia trachomatis

"Walking" pneumonia—Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Rocky Mountain spotted fever—Rickettsia rickettsii

DISEASES CAUSED BY VIRUSES

AIDS—HIV-1 or HIV-2 (retroviruses)

Genital herpes—herpes simplex type 1

Cold sores (fever blisters)—herpes simplex type 2

Hepatitis (A,B,C)—3 different viruses

Genital warts—HPV virus

Common cold—most due to rhinoviruses

Influenza—influenza A, B, and C viruses

Viral pneumonia—many viruses can cause

Measles

German measles

Mumps

Chicken pox

Smallpox (naturally occurring cases eliminated but now a worry for biological warfare)

Polio

"Stomach viruses"—include rotaviruses, reoviruses, echoviruses, coxsackie virus, & others

Yellow fever

Rabies

DISEASES CAUSED BY FUNGI (DISEASES AS A GROUP ARE CALLED MYCOSES)

Candidiasis--most common in mouth (called thrush) and in vagina (called yeast infection)—Candida albicans

Histoplasmosis—Histoplasma capsulatum

Blastomycosis—Blastomyces dermatidis

Coccidioidomycosis—Coccidiodes immitis

Cryptococcosis—Cryptococcus neoformans

Ringworm & athlete's foot—Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia—pneumonia is AIDS patients & others with poor immune function (sometimes also classified as a protozoan)

DISEASES CAUSED BY PROTOZOA

Vaginal trichomoniasis—Trichomonas vaginalis

Amoebic dysentery—Entamoeba histolytica

Giardiasis—Giardia lamblia

Balantidiasis—Ballantidium coli

Malaria—Plasmodium species

Toxoplasmosis—Toxoplasma gondii

African sleeping sickness—Trypanosoma species