BIOL 3200 - General
Microbiology Exam Study
Guide – Practice Questions
with Verified Answers. GRADED
A+. Latest 2026/2027 Update
pathogen - Answer✔✔-microbial agent of disease
ectoparasite - Answer✔✔-lives on the surface of the host
endoparasite - Answer✔✔-lives inside the host's body
infection - Answer✔✔-when a pathogen or parasite enters or begins to grow
on host, does not necessarily imply overt disease
primary pathogens - Answer✔✔-cause disease in healthy hosts e.g. Shigella
flexneri, the cause of bacillary dysentery
,opportunistic pathogens - Answer✔✔-cause disease only in
immunocompromised hosts e.g. Pneumocystis jirovecii, the cause of life-
threatening infections in AIDS patients, cause disease when immune system
barriers are breached
pathogenicity - Answer✔✔-organism's ability to cause disease, defined in
terms of infectivity (capacity for transmission) and virulence (disease severity)
virulence - Answer✔✔-severity or degree of disease, measured in infectious
dose and/or legal dose
rhinovirus - Answer✔✔-highly infective pathogen with low virulence
Ebola virus - Answer✔✔-highly virulent pathogen (70% fatality rate)
infection cycle - Answer✔✔-route organism takes from one individual to
another
horizontal transmission - Answer✔✔-transmission from one member of a
species to another
fomites - Answer✔✔-inanimate objects
vectors - Answer✔✔-animals (e.g. mosquitos or ticks)
vertical transmission - Answer✔✔-transmission from parent to child
, accidental transmission - Answer✔✔-when a host not normally part of the the
infection cycle unintentionally encounters the cycle
aerosolization - Answer✔✔-production of airborne particles (e.g. tiny liquid
droplets) containing infectious agents
Walter Reed - Answer✔✔-confirmed that mosquito Aedes aegypti is the vector
of transmission for yellow fever
yellow fever - Answer✔✔-a disease named for the jaundice produced by liver
damage caused by a flavivirus that remains pandemic in the northern part of
South America and in Central Africa
resevoir - Answer✔✔-animal that usually harbors pathogen
portals of entry - Answer✔✔-sites suitable to specific mechanisms of
pathogenesis through which infectious agents enter susceptible hosts
mouth - Answer✔✔-portal of entry used by food-borne pathogens
respiratory tract - Answer✔✔-portal of entry used by airborne pathogens
parenteral route - Answer✔✔-portal of entry used by agents transmitted by
vectors, refers to any non-digestive route
Microbiology Exam Study
Guide – Practice Questions
with Verified Answers. GRADED
A+. Latest 2026/2027 Update
pathogen - Answer✔✔-microbial agent of disease
ectoparasite - Answer✔✔-lives on the surface of the host
endoparasite - Answer✔✔-lives inside the host's body
infection - Answer✔✔-when a pathogen or parasite enters or begins to grow
on host, does not necessarily imply overt disease
primary pathogens - Answer✔✔-cause disease in healthy hosts e.g. Shigella
flexneri, the cause of bacillary dysentery
,opportunistic pathogens - Answer✔✔-cause disease only in
immunocompromised hosts e.g. Pneumocystis jirovecii, the cause of life-
threatening infections in AIDS patients, cause disease when immune system
barriers are breached
pathogenicity - Answer✔✔-organism's ability to cause disease, defined in
terms of infectivity (capacity for transmission) and virulence (disease severity)
virulence - Answer✔✔-severity or degree of disease, measured in infectious
dose and/or legal dose
rhinovirus - Answer✔✔-highly infective pathogen with low virulence
Ebola virus - Answer✔✔-highly virulent pathogen (70% fatality rate)
infection cycle - Answer✔✔-route organism takes from one individual to
another
horizontal transmission - Answer✔✔-transmission from one member of a
species to another
fomites - Answer✔✔-inanimate objects
vectors - Answer✔✔-animals (e.g. mosquitos or ticks)
vertical transmission - Answer✔✔-transmission from parent to child
, accidental transmission - Answer✔✔-when a host not normally part of the the
infection cycle unintentionally encounters the cycle
aerosolization - Answer✔✔-production of airborne particles (e.g. tiny liquid
droplets) containing infectious agents
Walter Reed - Answer✔✔-confirmed that mosquito Aedes aegypti is the vector
of transmission for yellow fever
yellow fever - Answer✔✔-a disease named for the jaundice produced by liver
damage caused by a flavivirus that remains pandemic in the northern part of
South America and in Central Africa
resevoir - Answer✔✔-animal that usually harbors pathogen
portals of entry - Answer✔✔-sites suitable to specific mechanisms of
pathogenesis through which infectious agents enter susceptible hosts
mouth - Answer✔✔-portal of entry used by food-borne pathogens
respiratory tract - Answer✔✔-portal of entry used by airborne pathogens
parenteral route - Answer✔✔-portal of entry used by agents transmitted by
vectors, refers to any non-digestive route
