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communicable diseases

(Encyclopedia)communicable diseases, illnesses caused by microorganisms and transmitted from an infected person or animal to another person or animal. Some diseases are passed on by direct or indirect contact with ...

ehrlichiosis

(Encyclopedia)ehrlichiosis ârlĭkēōˈsĭs [key], any of several diseases caused by rickettsia of the genera Ehrlichia and Anaplasma. Ehrlichiosis is transmitted by ticks. Both human forms tend to develop about n...

cryptosporidium

(Encyclopedia)cryptosporidium krĭpˌtōspərĭdˈēəm [key], genus of protozoans having at least four species; they are waterborne parasites that cause the disease cryptosporidiosis. One of the species appears to...

chikungunya

(Encyclopedia)chikungunya chĭkən-go͞onˈyä [key], viral disease transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes mosquito. Symptoms appear after an incubation period of four to eight days and include sudden ...

Parkinsonism

(Encyclopedia)Parkinsonism: see Parkinson's disease. ...

chancroid

(Encyclopedia)chancroid: see sexually transmitted disease. ...

Neher, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Neher, Edwin, 1944–, German biophysicist, Ph.D. Technical Univ. of Munich, 1970. He has been a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany, since 1972. Nehe...

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountain spotted fever, infectious disease caused by a rickettsia. The bacterium is harbored by wild rodents and other animals and is carried by infected ticks of several species that attach the...

clubroot

(Encyclopedia)clubroot, disease of cabbages, turnips, radishes, and other plants belonging to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family). It is induced by a plasmodial slime mold that attacks the roots...

typhus

(Encyclopedia)typhus, any of a group of infectious diseases caused by microorganisms classified between bacteria and viruses, known as rickettsias. Typhus diseases are characterized by high fever and an early onset...