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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Pathogen
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1992-09-02
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Greek `disease producing' in medicine, a
bacterium or virus that causes disease. Most
pathogens are parasites, and the diseases
they cause are incidental to their search for
food or shelter inside the host. Nonparasitic
organisms, such as soil bacteria or those
living in our gut and feeding on waste
foodstuffs, can also become pathogenic to a
person whose immune system or liver is
damaged. The larger parasites that can cause
disease, such as nematode worms, are not
usually described as pathogens.