Vocab 11/30

Terms:
1. Incidence: the number of NEW cases of disease in a given population
2. Prevelance: the total number of cases of disease in a population (old & new)
3. Epidemic: increase in the incidence of a disease
4. Reservoir: where microbe (that carries the disease) exists in nature, usually
Ex: C. perfingens-soil, V. fischeri-squid's head, sea water
(over time, microbes become less virulent in their reservoir)
5. Vector: organism that transmits infrectious disease from host to host
Ex: Y. pestis (black plague) vector=flea, Malaria-mosquito
(often times the host and vector can be the same0
6. Virulent: Microbe that is able to cause symptoms in a host
-virulence: the ability to cause symptoms
7. Virulence factor: any chemical made by a pathogenic microbe that contributes to that microbes ability to cause symptoms

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